Hurricane
by redsandman99
Summary: Redemption is never easy and Cooper's road to it turns into his own perdition.
1. Chapter 1

**Story number three in mine and Vermi's fabulous series! No mother possession here this time but still, buckle your seatbelts, because this one is going to be a hell of a ride.**

...

Cooper kept his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared at the house in front of him. It was a small place, only two bedrooms and one bathroom and definitely not anywhere near as big as any of the houses he had lived in before. It did sort of have a nice cozy kind of look to it but he didn't want it because of that. Personally, he didn't even really give a shit where he ended up at this point. A one room apartment would have suited him just fine at this point but of course Mindy wouldn't allow that. She and Connor had dragged him all over town looking at places and he had finally just picked a place so he could get moved in before James came roaring in and taking Mindy away from him (which was expected to happen at any minute-the two of them literally could not be away from each other for more than five seconds without some real deep separation anxiety).

"Are you sure this is the one you want?" Mindy asked, giving his hand a squeeze as she scrutinized the house closely. "You don't have to settle for anything you don't want to."

"It's fine," he said with a shrug. "It's three blocks from your place so if Connor runs off he can find me easy enough." It did scare him to be in such close proximity to James. That was really the big downside to this place. He hadn't seen James since he and Mindy had got out of the hospital and he wasn't exactly looking forward to ever seeing him again. As far as he knew, James was going to hate him until the end of time, so the more he avoided him, the better.

"And we're close to the park!" Connor helpfully pointed out. He had Snoopy and Spike by their leashes and was bouncing all around like he had just ate an entire bag of sugar. "And Coopy can take me there when I spend the night with him!" He hugged Cooper so hard that he about cracked a couple of his older brother's ribs. "Imma spend the night a whole bunch Coopy. I don't want you to be lonely."

"Thanks Connor," Cooper said, not saying that that really didn't give him very much comfort. He loved his brother to death but his companionship really only went so far. It wasn't like Cooper could really talk to him or anything. Connor would never ever understand how he was feeling. Mindy was the only one who could but he never got to talk to her as much as he wanted and needed to because she had a hell of a time even getting time to talk to him on the phone, let alone sneaking out to see him face to face. Her and James were pretty much attached to the hip even more than before and neither of them were all that willing to change it. Cooper envied James horribly because he needed Mindy so badly but he tried not to say anything. He knew Mindy would never hear anything that could even be considered a word against James plus he really had no right to talk anyway. He was lucky to even be having Mindy in his life at all and he knew it.

"Well then it's settled," Mindy said. She whipped out her phone so she could make some calls. "I'll make the real estate lady come down here with the keys and paper work and we'll get the power turned on and the plumbing and then we'll go shopping to get your furniture and bed and your food so you have stuff to eat." The home was already coming with a furnished kitchen so they didn't have to buy anything for that except for the food.

Cooper raised his eyebrows. "Damn Mom. You're really taking charge aren't you?"

"Of course," Mindy said brightly. "I'm Mindy freaking Lawson. Taking charge is what I do."

Connor giggled and leaned over so he could whisper loudly into Cooper's ear. "She's got a date with Daddy tonight."

Cooper raised his eyebrows and looked at Mindy. "Is that true?"

Mindy giggled girlishly and nodded. "He's taking me out to dinner and-" Her phone rang at that moment and as soon as she looked at it Cooper could tell by her face it was James.

"Cooper-"

"Answer it," he said with a sigh. Like they had any other option. Mindy and James needed constant updates on the other or all was not right in their world.

Mindy gave him a little smile before stepping away and answering it, chirping away at James happily. Cooper walked away a little bit and sank down to the curb. It was hotter than hell outside today but he didn't feel the heat at all. He just felt so fucking cold that he could barely stand it. _I'm fucking dead inside,_ he thought as he miserably shivered inside of his jacket. It wasn't really a pleasant thought but if fit. It really did fit.

Connor plopped down next to Cooper and hugged him tight. "Daddy put a pool in the backyard Coopy. You should come over and swim with me."

Cooper shook his head. "If I come over to swim, Dad will wring my neck and then string me up from the tallest tree."

Connor pouted his lips and rested his head against Cooper's shoulder. "Mommy and I will make him like you again, okay?" He gave him a huge kiss on the cheek. "It'll be okay Coopy, okay? It'll be okay. Mommy and me will make him like you again and we'll make Jeff like you too so you won't be lonely."

Cooper's breath hitched as soon as Jeff's name was uttered. Jeff. Oh God he hated thinking about Jeff. Any nightmare that did not revolve around Joie leaving him again or watching himself hurt Mindy involved Jeff and the utter disgust he now felt towards him. He knew he had fucked up horribly and Jeff had no reason to forgive him. But that didn't stop him from missing him. Contrary to what Jeff probably believed, Cooper did love him. He really did. It was just his own stupidity had completely clouded his judgment and he had made himself unhappy with what he had. And now that it was gone, he missed it and needed it back more than ever.

"Coopy?" Connor said with a small frown. "Are you okay?"

Cooper blinked and looked down, not even able to make eye contact with his own brother anymore. "I'm fine," he lied. "Just fine."

…

Eventually Mindy was able to get off the phone with James (although they then resorted to texting each other every couple seconds and she, Cooper and Connor went furniture shopping. There were some paparazzi that tried to follow them, but Connor scared them off by letting out his "infidel killing" cry, which basically just him screaming gibberish at the top of his lungs while waving his arms around. "Did I do good Mommy?" he asked Mindy eagerly. "Huh? Did I do good?"

Mindy giggled and kissed his cheek. "YES!" she assured him. She gave him a big kiss on the cheek and then linked arms with both him and Cooper as they went inside the building. "Now what kind of look are you going for in your new home?"

"Look?" Cooper said incredulously. "Mom I'm essentially living by myself. The look don't matter. I just want the shit to be comfortable and not hideously ugly."

"Like this one!" Connor said. He ran over to a living room set and jumped over the back of the couch, plopping down ass first on one of the cushions. "This looks like something Tryggy threw up the other day!"

Cooper wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I could have gone without knowing that Connor. I mean really."

Connor giggled and shook his head. "I love you Coopy."

Cooper just rolled his eyes and looked around at the living room sets in front of him. "What about-" Mindy's phone rang again and of course it was James. She gave Cooper an apologetic look before taking the call, looking so happy to hear James's voice that Cooper couldn't stand it. He slipped away from the distracted duo of Mindy and Connor (he was now trying to stick himself inside a washer, much to the employees' chagrin) and went into the bathroom, making sure he was alone before locking himself in there. For a moment he just stood at the door, resting his head against it and trying to will the pain he was in to just go away. He was tired of it. He wanted it gone and he wanted it gone now. Why did it keep having to torture him? He knew he was a fuckup and a loser that didn't deserve to live but it didn't have to keep rubbing his face in it.

Letting out a shaky breath, he went over to the mirror and stared at his reflection hatefully. He hated the man that was staring back at him so much that he could hardly stand it. His face was starting to grow a little bit of stubble because he hadn't shaved and the black was beginning to fade from his hair because he hadn't been dyeing it. He knew he needed to do both of those things soon but the problem was, he had no inspiration to do either of those things. It was all he could do at this point to even keep on surviving. What did it matter how he looked? How could it even begin to matter at this point? He let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his hair. He wanted to turn back the clock and change so much that it wasn't even funny. He wanted to fix the mess that was his life by changing his decisions but he couldn't. What was done was done and nothing was going to change that.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little prepaid cell phone he had purchased not too long ago. Glancing back towards the door, he dialed Jeff's number and waited anxiously. He couldn't use his own phone because Jeff would recognize the number and never answer it. "Come on," he said under his breath, anxiously pacing back and forth now. "Come on come on…"

"Hello?"

Cooper froze. Jeff had actually answered. He had called from this number a couple of times before but had only gotten his voicemail (and he never left a message because he doubted that Jeff would ever really call him back). Hearing his voice though now rocked Cooper's world and it left him utterly speechless.

"Hello?" Jeff said impatiently. "Anyone there?"

Cooper wanted to say something so bad that it hurt but he couldn't do it. He didn't have the balls to speak up. Hating himself for it, he hung up and put his phone back, slowly sinking down to the ground so he could hug his legs to his chest and just wish he could shrivel up and die right then and there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **LoveToRead911**: Aw thanks and we will. **NeroAnne**: They really do need a good talk; whether Jeff is willing to or Cooper gets the courage to at least stop playing phone tag is a bit of another story. **EternalxInsanity**: lol You might be one of the only people who would want Connor as a brother…Cooper can tell you from experience that the cuteness wears off and he can get majorly irritating to have around.

…

"As cool as I want your house to be…" Mindy sighed while hugging Cooper from behind in the doorway of his new home after they'd returned home from furniture shopping, "I want neutral colors for the walls and furniture so you are more inclined to RELAX" she cuddled her head against his warm back and he covered her little arms with his, actually trembling at her touch and the way she was hugging his waist, "since you never like to do that…" she sighed while giving his back a kiss and buried her face in it, walls of raven hair covering Cooper or Connor from seeing her face.

"Mom…" Cooper rubbed her arms and sighed, looking into the temporarily-empty living room to see Connor sprinting about playing freeze tag with Snoopy and Spike, only the goat didn't listen to shit so it pissed him off and he yelled at him.

"Mom what?" Mindy finally lifted her face and frowned, tilting her head back so her chin rested up when he twisted his torso and smiled weakly at her, flipping her around like a monkey so he could hold her from the front, "Hey!" she struggled playfully for a moment, "Bub!" Her struggling stopped as he just held her in a tight hug and looked about the empty house she'd already hired people to come tomorrow and paint before the furniture she'd purchased arrived. Glancing around him it was just too much.

"Mom, this is ridiculous" he shook his head at the little house in astonishment and frowned, "You REALLY shouldn't-"

"Yo!" her little finger reached up and poked his nose before she shook her head, "YOU have no room to talk, Mister!"

"But Mommy…" he mashed his teeth and shook his head at her, "Mommy you can't do this-"

"The hell I can" she said with a curt nod, kissing his hand and peering around the house for Connor, "I'ma send Connor on little field trips to bring you meals since I live so close-"

"Mom-" he tried to hold a hand up and interrupt her but she was having none of it.

"Stop" she shook her head and squeezed his hand, "Your house is bein' painted tomorrow, furniture comes next day, and I have a date with Daddy in two hours and he is going to be ticked if I am late" standing on her tiptoes she kissed his cheek and motioned to Connor and the animals, "Let's go, infidel-slayers! There's Pizza Hut awaiting you kiddies while Daddy and I go out on a romantic date"

"He never struck me as the actual 'dating' type…" Cooper's brow furrowed oddly and Mindy shrugs.

"We go on romantic dates all the time, sillybuns" she giggled and gave his cheek a harder kiss.

"Coming, Mommy!" Connor careened around a corner with the animals and flung his arms around both Cooper and Mindy, compressing the two together and although Cooper felt insanely awkward she was laughing gaily and hugged them both back before climbing on Connor's back piggyback style and giving them both the biggest kisses her tiny mouth could deliver.

"I love my boys" she whispered gently while running her fingers through Connor's hair, squealing as he spun in circles with her on his back until Cooper held out both hands and grabbed Connor's shoulders so he wouldn't accidentally make Mindy puke or something.

"Connor, seriously stop, alright?" Cooper looked his little brother in the eye and frowned, "Mom shouldn't have to deal with your bullshit on top of everything else"

"Mommy LIEKS me spinning, Coopy!" Connor yelled at him and stuck his tongue out, "You're just MEAN!"

"YOU" Mindy poked Cooper's nose while giving Connor's cheek a big kiss, "Need to chill, Mister…" she looked at Connor and they both smirked, "or I'll make Connor, Spike, and Snoopy spend the night with ya!"

"OH dear fucking Christ, get out!" Cooper quickly kissed Mindy's temple before shoving them both to the door, "Enjoy fucking Dad for the next twelve hours"

"Actually honey, he is going to be fucking ME if you would like to get technical…"

"MOM!"

…

Mindy pulled the car in the garage and once Connor leapt out with the pets, she decided to check her makeup in the mirror for an extra moment before getting out the driver's side when WHAM!

"FUCK!" she yelped and got slammed front-first into the side of the car, two long arms circled her body and while one was already caressing her hipbones the other had a bouquet of red roses with a little card that said 'Baby Doll' in them, "JAMIE!" She giggled at the trail of kisses which went up her neck and smashed to her lips, the back of her body pressing against his front happily as she returned his kisses and tried to snake her arms out to get them around him, "I-" she tried to talk but his tongue gliding in cut her off. Allowing herself to be taken away for a moment, she guided one of his hands down her jeans and bit his lip excitedly for his fingers to begin exercising. They didn't even touch her core yet and already she was moaning in his mouth, having a breath for when he began and-

"EW!" Connor shouted from the garage doorway, making James and Mindy abruptly stop and look up at him in fright, "That's NASTY, Daddy! You can't touch Mommy that way its gross!"

"Gross?" James frowned and placed an open kiss on Mindy's throat, handing her the roses which she accepted with a bit of a squeak, "How am I gross, huh? What's gross about me loving Mommy forever and ever and ever?"

"You have a DATE for that" the small, slightly rasped voice behind Connor replied and once the older boy walked further inside Amber was standing with Fievel in her arms and a disappointed look on her face at James. Furrowing his brow, one of his hands went to Mindy's butt and helped her up the steps into the mud room while Amber could only sigh while shaking her head at him.

"What?" he frowned and bent to kiss her when Amber hugged his neck and let him lift her off the ground.

"Against the CAR, Daddy?" she saw the roses in her mother's hand and obviously knew what her father's plan was, "Really? You thought that was a smart idea?"

"Why" James smiled and rubbed noses with her as Mindy headed into the house and plopped to the floor to cuddle with Chelsea and Tryg, "I thought it was a grand idea"

"You're too LOUD, Daddy" Amber pressed her forehead against his and they kissed, "Next time try INSIDE the car so Connor won't cock block you"

"Hey!" he pretended to raise his eyebrows sternly before smiling fondly at his eldest daughter, "You watch your fucking language"

Amber barred her teeth and nipped at the tip of her father's nose before giggling as he tickled her stomach, "You watch where you put your fucking hands in front of children."

"Oooo" he cringed with a shake of the head, "my god, Amber Rose, tou-fucking-ché."

"It's hard being so much smarter than your own parents, I know" Amber sighed while resting her head against James's, "Aunt Taryn is giving the twins a bath and Lizzie Bear's taking her nap in your room"

"Of course my room" James nodded while bending to scoop both Chelsea and Tryg up in the same arm.

"DADDY!" immediately the blonde toddler set to turn three on Valentine's Day threw her arms around James and giggled loudly, kissing him as many times as he'd let her before allowing Tryg to hug his neck and knock their foreheads together.

"Daddy are we getting Hershey dunkers for dessert when Pizza Hut comes?" the four year old frowned and quickly James nodded with a kiss to his nose.

"I already paid the guy, see?" James motioned to the stacks of food covered by insulating bags so it wouldn't get cold, "When you were playing hide and seek with my Princess" he beamed as Chelsea giggled at 'my Princess', "the delivery guy came"

"They never leave the bags" Tryg noticed the insulation bags and grinned at James, making Mindy look up knowingly before reaching in James's pocket and pulling out the bloodied knife. She gave him a look and he smiled sheepishly while Amber could only shake her head.

"Where's the body?" Mindy stood and brought the knife over to the kitchen sink so she could wash it for him and James curled his lips in a bit and smirked.

"Drove the car into nowhere and stuffed it in the trunk, why?" he placed all but Chelsea down and approached Mindy as she washed the knife in the sink, burying his face in the crook of her neck and giving her a kiss, "Did you think I got lazy and irresponsible?" He went to flirt more, but then checked the clock and frowned, "Baby Doll, I'll wash the knife, why don't you go get ready to leave?"

"What are you wearing?" she kissed him once before letting him spin her around so she could survey the light blue button-down and black pants with a belt that James wore.

"Ummm, okay…" she nodded and jumped up so they could kiss quickly, "I'll wear peach!"

She scampered for the stairs as James checked the clock and hugged Chelsea close before shouting, "You've got twenty-five minutes!"

"I won't be that long!" he heard the response from the bedroom and had to smile, snuggling his head against Chelsea and letting her play with his longish brown hair.

"Isn't Mommy silly, Princess?" he grinned while watching her nod and kiss him on the lips.

…

"Mum mum mum!" Elizabeth squealed and eagerly watched from Mindy's free arm as her mother was putting the finishing touches on her lip color. Mindy smiled warmly and giggled, poking her tongue between her teeth before kissing the side of Elizabeth's head.

"You like Mommy's dress, Lizzie Bear?" she giggled and kissed the baby's cheek, "You LIKE it?" Elizabeth babbled and Mindy took that as a yes. "You think DADDY will like it, Lizzie Bear? Is Daddy gonna be happy?"

Elizabeth craned her neck to the doorway of the master bathroom to see James lurking in behind them, "Da! Da! Da! Da!"

"Shh…!" James quickly hissed and Elizabeth quieted down eagerly before he kissed her lovingly and craned Mindy's neck, completely covering her mouth with his and taking off the lip gloss she'd just been applying.

"JAMIE!" she shrieked, giggling as his hands wandered over her body and one went inside the low bust-line to brush the thumb over her nipple; while the other slowly rubbed and slid its way up Mindy's dress, automatically parting her legs and rubbing for a few moments until he felt her panties were soaked. She arched her back and kissed him harder until her panties became pushed aside by his fingers and he began to really rub her swollen flesh, taking advantage of the moisture when she frowned and broke the kiss. "Mmmm Jamie…" she curled her lips in and frowned before shaking her head, "after dinner, Jamie, we're gonna be late"

"Not at the rate I can finish you" he gave her a wink and increased how fast he rubbed when one long finger slipped in first and she moaned, grinding her backside against his thighs when he slipped another finger in, and then a third. Three of his fingers alone were bigger than most men's cocks, so the ease that he was able to finish her off with wasn't surprising even to her, "Don't go away all day like that again" they kissed and he licked his fingers clean before kissing their daughter and taking her hand.

…

Being that they'd grown so used to eating meals this way and nobody in their right mind was going to stop them, James sat Mindy in his lap at the Border Grill (the finest Tex-Mex cuisine in Vegas) and read the menu aloud to her.

"Oooo…" Mindy's lips pouted and she tapped James's hand before he stretched his fingers and held hers in his, "I know what we can do…"

Everything looked so fucking good and the more he read aloud to her, the hungrier they got just staring at the menu.

"What?" he nuzzled her neck and was no longer really focusing on the menu, but the smell of the coconut soap on her neck.

"Okay" she nodded once she sorted it all out in her head before turning to him and giving him a quick kiss because he was too gorgeous, "Appetizers…"

"Mhmm…" he nodded along interestingly while squeezing her hand tighter.

"We get the Plantain Empanadas and Tortilla Soup"

"Yum" he nodded and furrowed his brow at the main courses, "What do we go about dinner?"

"Dinner?" she sighed and kissed his fingers, "how about…" she pouted her lips and smiled, "YOU get the Oaxacan Strip Steak and I'LL get the Chicken Poblano Enchiladas and we'll split!"

He thought it over for a moment before grinning and nodding, "Baby Doll, you're brilliant."

"Thank you" she giggled and they kissed, "and we'll be total fatasses for dessert, and we'll drink lots of alcohol"

"I have to drive, Baby Doll…" he reminded her before giving her another kiss, "I can deal with you drunk though" he nodded innocently, "I swear not to take advantage of you throwing yourself at me like you've never fucked me in your life"

"Jamie…" she giggled before dipping her chip in the complementary salsa they put out and handing it back so he could take a bite right out of her hand, "if you get me drunk at ANY TIME" she waited for him to swallow before tangling a hand in his hair and kissing him, "you fucking take advantage of whatever you can get because I got news for ya…" she poked his nose and let him bite her finger, "next time YOU get drunk we're fucking through the morning"

"Nothing I haven't done sober" he shrugged and kissed her neck before looking at the alcohol menu for her, "How much do you think you can hold down without vomiting our dinner?"

"Hmm…" she frowned while studying the menu, "I am either a mega-lightweight or a tank…depends on the drink and how much I ate that day."

"He chose to be that close to us on purpose, didn't he?" James asked her completely off-topic, and Mindy pouted her lips while thinking over the question before frowning.

"Well if Connor runs away to 'be' with him, at least we know where he is, right darling?" she smiled gently, though he really wasn't smiling back.

"I don't want him anywhere near you or our children. He's not allowed in my house as long as I'm alive and YOU, my Baby Doll, are not permitted to be alone with him by any means"

"He's sorry, Jamie" she frowned and reached back with her free hand to rub his neck, "Darling, he really is"

"And what exactly has he done to earn my trust, Baby Doll, huh?" he frowned and shook his head, nestling his nose in her hair, "What the hell has he done to make it up to YOU, or ME, or the babies?"

"Jamie," she sighed, "he-"

"Absolutely fucking nothing, exactly."

"He does not have money, Jamie"

"What about all that shit you've been giving him?" he frowned and shook his head, "I know he has it, sweetheart"

"Shhhh…" gently her neck craned even more so they could kiss and hold one another, "Jamie-darling, enjoy our romantic date…"

"I'm trying" he interrupted when she raised both eyebrows and gave the tip of his nose a kiss before moving down to his mouth and parting his lips with her tongue.

"I shoulda jacked you off while you fingered me" she sighed at herself in disappointment before going back to kissing him. "Because you are being a very nasty boy tonight when you are supposed to be thinking about ME"

"I am thinking about you" they continued to kiss and he frowned, not even caring at the cameras flashing up everywhere because Mindy Stratus was making out with her husband in public, "that's why I don't want him fucking near you!"

"Oh Jamie…" she sighed with a shake of the head, "you have no idea how bad I am punishing you later for being a butthead during dinner."

"In THAT case…" he pulled a crayon off the table since Mindy had insisted they be given a few and started to color on the tablecloth, "I like being bad."

"Jamie!" she slapped his hand and giggled, already feeling his hand start to slide up her dress as the waiter was coming over, "No!" immediately she shook her head at him and he smirked, "No, Jamie! No!"

"Too late" he whispered hoarsely in her ear and started rubbing and stroking her wet center from under the tablecloth as the waiter came over.

"Are you guys ready to order?" the waiter asked them both and James nodded while gently kissing Mindy's neck.

"Tell him, honey…" he said a bit evilly, feeling her wetness begin to pulsate for him and he slipped the fingers inside, making her spine arch and she wanted to kill him, "Honey?"

"Ah…!" she sighed a bit from his handiwork and how amazing it felt before shaking it off and trying to keep composure, "Umm…"

"Start with the appetizers, honey…" James was doing this on purpose and she wanted to slaughter him in a thousand ways.

"Um…w-we b-b-both w-want…." She took a moment to breathe as his fingers drove her wild, "Tortilla Soup a-and…Plantain…Empanadas…"

"And what about the main course, darling?" James teased even more, cuddling her neck and she would have smacked his face if they weren't in the center of attention at a fancy restaurant in their native city.

"Umm…" she was coming close already and it was so hard to hold on, "fuck…"

"Excuse me, Miss?" the waiter thought she said something and she turned eight shades of red.

"Um" she elbowed the snickering James in the gut, "My h-us-b-band would like the…" she couldn't remember he was fingering so hard, "Oaxacan thing and I want…" she panted and tried not to ride his fingers out in front of everyone, "the…Poblano chicken thing!"

"Oaxacan Strip Steak and Chicken Poblano Enchiladas?"

"Yeah!" she nodded as his fingers moved slower, driving her insane, "Yeah! That!"

"I'll put that right in for you guys" he gave them a nod and headed off, Mindy glaring at James like she wanted to kill him when his fingers withdrew and her face got even whiter…

"Are you kidding me?" she panted as he withdrew them completely and licked them clean, "Are you fucking KIDDING me, Jamie?" He snickered and innocently hugged her torso from behind, knowing fully well he didn't finish her off because his ass was grass already. He just wanted a reason for there to really be a need to kill him. "You're dead" she nodded at him as he cutely bit the tip of her nose and nodded, "You're fuckin…" she shook her head and kissed him, "you're lucky you're so cute."

"You LIKED it…" he teased obnoxiously, not caring who was looking their way when she just nodded along and looked at him a bit ominously.

"I'll show my appreciation for that after I ensure you're fed."

…

She didn't even wait for him to open the door to the passenger side for her so she could get in. His back had been slammed and after unbuckling his belt her hands went right down his pants and unzipped them, not even bothering to reach beyond his boxers and just furiously rubbing the fabric over his cock.

"Baby Doll!" he hissed through his teeth, staring at the bulge underneath his boxers that was becoming more and more painful when she didn't physically touch it, "Baby Doll!"

"Fuck you, Jamie…" she sighed while continuing to just rub the fabric, "Are you hard yet, Jamie?"

"Getting there…" he panted frantically when she reached her hand inside his boxers and pumped his shaft, pretending to bend her head and take him when his hand actually found her hair and guided her down…but she stopped. She fucking stopped and just kept stroking and pumping him in her hand. "Baby Doll, what are you…?" Nevertheless he watched her hands work until he was harder than a telephone pole and she stopped. She fucking stopped and gawked at him a moment to admire the size before pushing him aside.

"Get in the vehicle"

His eyes just about popped out of his head, "Baby Doll! What are" he had a full erection he couldn't drive…at least not without stopping to somehow make himself calm down.

"Drive, Jamie" she nodded and pointed to the wheel and shrugged, "You get nothin' until you listen to me"

"Baby Doll this is NOT fair I don't care what you say"

"You fucked me in the restaurant I expect you to now do as I say"

Wordlessly he somehow managed to climb in the driver's seat and even then, when he expected her to take him in her hand or her mouth she did nothing but fake grab it.

"Where to, darling?" he tried to ignore the blood rush and started the engine, noticing where her eyes purposely were and cringing he needed to be brought back down so desperately.

"Park" she said simply, and with a quick nod he drove there probably in record time.

…

They got there and she had him park the car before crawling into his lap and resting her head on his shoulder lovingly, straddling his waist and taking a deep breath. He'd already broken out in a sweat because his condition had actually become painful.

"Jamie…" she played with the fingers on his left hand and kissed the wedding ring, making him smile weakly and nod at her.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Do you remember the first time we made love?"

His eyes closed for a moment as his lips brushed her neck and he nodded.

"Do you remember how we did it?" she was teasing, and looking at her adoringly he nodded, "Tell me about it."

"Well FIRST" he pulled her dress over her head and unbuttoned his shirt, allowing her a moment to lean forwards and kiss it as sweat trickled down before placing his hands over her breasts and kneading them. She moaned happily as his hands caressed and kneaded her bare chest before smirking. "I took care of THIS…" he snapped the string on both sides of her thong, ran his tongue along the gathered moisture, and dropped them over his head, "Remind me to grab them before one of the kids comes to us with a lot of questions…"

"Mhm" she nodded with curled lips before pulling his face up to kiss him more, "Then what happened?"

"Then I…" his hand rested on her inner thigh and started to move between her legs, making small circles at her clit and loving it, "I decided to get my hands dirty"

"And what did I do next, Jamie?" she brushed her lips against his and hovered a child-sized hand over his cock…and he swallowed hard.

"You took me in that hand…" he groaned a moment as her hand tightly wrapped around his shaft, "and I finger-fucked you so hard you were crying"

"I felt how hard you were trying not to cum" she nodded while pumping him in her hand.

"So" he eased her hand off and knew her breathing was hitching, "I did this…!" He impaled her on his shaft and growled for a moment as she adjusted to his size. "And you're still as tight as you were on the day it happened"

"You have not gotten any smaller, Jamie" she shook her head and began to ride him, "and I fucking love you, Jamie! I tolded you I loved you do you remember?" she sniffled and started to cry, holding both sides of his face as he bucked his hips inside her, "Do you remember, Jamie? How I told you how much I loved you?"

"Yes" he choked; lolling his head back against the seat of the exact car they first made love in, in the exact position they were in that night with her over him, "Of course I remember, Baby Doll…"

"You didn't love me back" she frowned and sniffled again, her sweat-coated raven hair splayed all over her back and he moved it behind her shoulders with a single hand.

"Yes I did" he nodded with a kiss to her lips and an eager nod, "I did, Baby Doll, more than you knew; more than I knew…I just couldn't believe you said it first to me"

"What?" she shrugged and kissed him as she resumed moving her hips into his, "You were not worthy of being loved more than anyone by me?"

"I wasn't…" his eyes dropped and he shook his head when she fused her mouth to his and shook her head.

"You were, Jamie" she moaned into his mouth and nodded, "Why else would I have sex on the first date?"

He smiled.

"I know I hurt you that night" he frowned as her face fell and picked her chin up, "but please believe me I fucking loved you…" they kissed, "I wouldn't have done it with you if I didn't, I don't have mindless sex with women, alright? Of everyone I've ever fucked in my life only two of them have been women…"

She nodded and let him kiss her again.

"And you get me for forever and ever, you know that" he waited for her to sniffle and nod before they kissed more and he picked up his pace, "I'm in love with only you."

She smiled and started a girly little giggle that made him feel all giddy and weird and fluffy and cute, but he loved it. He loved it so much he drove his point home and held her hips down, sending her over the edge that she screamed his name and didn't move her mouth from his, mewling contentedly as he came moments later and let her rest on his shoulder only for a second, panting and opening the door before getting her in the backseat and moving himself in with her and lying on his back.

"Though it wasn't in this spot we did something else that night, Baby Doll…" he beckoned her over and instinctively she swung her leg over him backwards and took his whole length in her mouth, allowing him to move her body more towards his as she did so and lap at her center with his tongue and teeth. Every time he came she swallowed and started all over again, completely draining him that night but he didn't care at all.

…

The next morning James and Mindy were all lovey on each other during breakfast and it wasn't lost by their children one bit. They usually were very lovey on each other considering their wedding vows that they loved to make sure they carried out with, but this morning in particular it was ridiculous. They were practically making out at the breakfast table they were in such good moods.

"It's a good thing Cooper isn't here" Thorn nudged Scarlett and immediately the other twin nodded with wide eyes.

"He'd break a plate over Daddy's head"

"Or ruin his fairy tales!"

"I'm glad he is not here" Thorn concluded while watching Elizabeth try and feed James some of the homemade baby food, "If he comes back to hurt Mommy, Daddy will REALLY kick his butt."


	3. Chapter 3

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: She really is. She's a little girl version of her daddy…that means we should all be running scared by the time she learns to walk. **EternalxInsanity**: lol Yeah that's a reminder of Kane…and as we learn later, that don't really go over too well with Mindy. And it's hard not to love the babies. They're just too adorable.

…

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes," Connor sang as he made sure he had everything he needed all packed up. He was sneaking Cooper some supplies because he was a good boy like that. He knew Cooper wasn't very good at taking care of himself, so he was going to help out any way he could. "I know a song that gets everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes." He glanced over at Snoopy, who was standing nearby and wagging his tail excitedly. "Sing it Snoop!"

Snoopy threw back his head and howled, which constituted as singing in Connor's book. "Good boy Snoopy!" He grabbed one of Snoopy's doggy treats and tossed it to him, giggling when the puppy managed to catch it in his mouth. "Your turn Spike!" he chirped, looking over at the goat expectantly.

Spike just stared at him for a few moments before baaing and trying to trot off, not paying attention to where he was going and running into the wall instead.

Connor rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh Spike. You're too silly." He tossed his goat a treat to be nice and then went back to getting Cooper's care package all packed up.

"Connor!" Tryg said, running into the room and sliding across the floor in his socks and almost crashing into Connor's legs.

"Tryggy!" Connor picked up his best friend and younger brother and set him up on the counter so they would be the same height for once. "What's up doc?"

Tryg folded his arms across his chest and pouted his lips. "The girls are being stupid!"

Connor sighed and shook his head sadly. "Girls are stupid creatures," he reminded the young boy. "They can't help it. They just don't know any better. They're like Spike, who doesn't know how stupid he is either." He glanced back at his goat, who was now being chased in a circle by an excited Snoopy. "Go Snoopy go! Get 'em! Get 'em!"

Tryg clapped his hands together and started jumping up and down. "Yeah! Get him Snoopy! Show him who's boss!"

Snoopy heard their yelling but instead of continuing he walked over and put his two front paws on Connor's leg, demanding to be petted. "Oh Snoopy," Connor said as he rubbed his head affectionately. "You're such a ham." His eyes widened as an idea struck him. "Ham! I have to get the ham!"

Tryg frowned and glanced at all the food Connor was packing up. He was taking Cooper some bread, peanut butter and jelly, leftover pizza from last night, leftover breakfast from that morning, a package of cookies and two cans of Mountain Dew. "What are you doing Connor?" Tryg asked. "Are you going on a trip?"

"No I'm taking these to Coopy," Connor replied as he got out some of the deli ham from the fridge and packed it up too.

Tryg frowned even more. "Why?"

"Because Coopy needs help."

"So? Cooper hurt Mommy. Daddy don't like him anymore."

"Well I do and so does Mommy. So there." Connor zipped up the bag, shaking his shaggy hair out of his eyes in the process. "Coopy's my big brother. I can't just not love him no more because he was a butthead for a little bit."

"Well Daddy is going to get mad if he sees you doing this," Tryg pointed out. "Just because Mommy lets you see him doesn't mean he will."

Connor just shrugged at that. "Daddy can't stop me Tryggy."

"He's big though." Tryg wrapped his arms around Connor's neck and jumped on him, clinging to him like he was a monkey or something. "Really big. Bigger than you are. He's even bigger than a gorilla!"

Connor giggled at that. "He looks like a gorilla," he said with a snort. "A big gorilla who's always humping Mommy." He shuddered and made a face at his own words, the only one in the house bothered by the fact that Mindy and James were acting like a couple of horny teenagers.

Tryg grinned. "You know, if Mommy could still have babies, she would have had like a million of them by now," he said wisely. "They would have shot out of her tummy like a cannon! Pow pow pow pow!"

"Ewww, that's gross," Connor said as he wrinkled his nose. "You're gross Tryggy."

Tryg just laughed. "No YOU"RE gross Connor!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nope," Connor said firmly. "Now go distract Daddy so he don't see me leaving."

"Okay!" Tryg took off running as fast as he could as soon as Connor set him down on the ground. Connor watched him go, also making sure there were no girls around that could get him in trouble. This house was full of girls and he had to be very careful because they liked to get him in trouble a whole lot. "No girls…no girls…" He quickly leashed Snoopy and Spike and grabbed the bag of food. "You guys ready to go see Coopy?"

Snoopy wagged his tail and stuck his tongue, drooling on the floor a little bit. Spike just looked confused as usual. Connor took their reactions as a yes and quickly led them out the back door, making sure to close it behind him as quietly as possible so nobody would know he had ever left.

…

Cooper walked around his new house, trying to get a feel for the place now the furniture was moved in. Despite the fact that he had picked this place out, it did not feel like home at all. No place was going to feel like home except for home, where he wasn't allowed to go anymore. James wasn't ever going to let him back and even though Cooper understood why, it didn't make it hurt any less. There was a part of him that wanted to throw himself at James's feet and beg because he couldn't stand being on his own but he knew that would do absolutely no good. James would either just laugh at him or worse lose his temper. The thought of the latter absolutely terrified Cooper out of his mind. He was actually trying to repress the night James nearly killed because he simply could not handle thinking about it.

After deciding to himself that he needed to go to Best Buy and get himself a TV so he didn't die of boredom (because in his lists of ways to go out, that was not on it), he went into the bathroom so he could take a shower. He did his best to avoid looking at himself in the mirror because he hated his reflection so much but he caught sight of himself out of the corner of his eye, which made his stomach churn uncomfortably. "You're getting painted black," he told the mirror, taking his phones out of his pocket and setting them aside so he could take off his clothes. Last night he had called Jeff three times and hadn't been able to say a word any of the times. He had felt like such a fucking creeper but he hadn't been able to help himself. Every time he tried to say anything words failed him. There just didn't seem to be no words in any kind of language that would lead to him being able to make things better. Jeff hated him and that was pretty much that.

He stepped into the shower and turned the water on as hot as he could stand it. Then he just stood there, doing his best to completely block out the world around him. If he couldn't be happy he at least wanted to be numb. Was that too much to ask? It seemed like it was. There was always this ache in his chest and he hated it. It reminded him of just how miserable he really was.

The shower curtain was suddenly thrown back and Cooper screamed, nearly slipping and falling in the process. "Connor!" he said, grabbing on to his younger brother's arm to regain his balance. "Jesus Christ! What the hell is your problem?"

Connor blinked innocently. "I brought you food!" he said brightly. "Snoopy and Spike are downstairs guarding it. I yelled your name but you didn't answer. I heard the water and I thought you were drowning or something."

Cooper took a couple deep breaths, trying to slow down his heart, which was trying to pound its way out of his chest. "How the hell did you even get in?"

"I snuck in the window," Connor replied. "You didn't lock it." He climbed into the shower and hugged Cooper, not even caring that he was getting soaking wet "I didn't mean to scare you Coopy. I really didn't."

"I know," Cooper said with a sigh. "But now I'm going to have to get you a change of clothes you dope."

"That's okay," Connor said with a giggle. "I like your clothes. They're comfy."

"Yeah well you're not wearing anything I like." Cooper wanted to make that nice and clear. Even if Connor promised he wouldn't get Cooper's clothes dirty he would end up doing it anyway. That was just what he did. "And if you're going to be here then you're going to have to go shopping with me."

"Aw man, no!" Connor whined, stomping his foot childishly. "I hate shopping-"

"I'm getting a TV you dope."

"So? That's shopping-"

"If you behave I'll take you to the park," Cooper said quickly, hoping that would make Connor stop.

Thankfully, it did. "Yay!" Connor cheered, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Thank you Coopy! Thank you thank you thank you!"

Cooper tried to smile back but he couldn't. It just refused to go on his face. "Yeah," he said, the flatness of his voice going completely over Connor's head. "No problem."

…

James was on his hands and knees, facing off with Tryg who had taken off his shirt and was facing off with James with an inflatable baseball in hand. Not too far away was Mindy, who had both Chelsea and Elizabeth on her lap. The two of them had been making out while the babies slept on and things were about to be taken to the level they constantly loved being on when Tryg had burst in and shouted something about James being a gorilla. Now James wasn't one to back down from that kind of accusation and naughty fun time had temporarily been abandoned in favor of the four year old's fun time.

"I'm gonna get you you mangy beast!" Tryg exclaimed, raising the bat and charging at James at full speed. James propped himself up on his knees and let our a roar while beating his fists against his chest before easily catching Tryg. Tryg tried to wiggle free but James held on tight and began to tickle him mercilessly, making the little boy scream and laugh at the same time.

"No fair Daddy!" Tryg gasped out. "Gorillas don't tickle!"

"Good point," James said, not stopping even though he had just admitted that. "They eat the bugs out of their babies hair!" He bent over and began nomming at Tryg's hair, making him laugh even more.

"He better have no bugs in there," Mindy said, giggling and bouncing Chelsea and Elizabeth on her lap. "I keep him very clean thank you very much."

James pouted his lips and gave him what he considered to be an upset gorilla look. "No bugs? What am I supposed to do then? How will I survive?"

"I'll feed you gorilla treats," Mindy promised. "Lots and lots of gorilla treats."

James grinned. "Yummy. I can't wait." He hugged Tryg tight, ceasing his tickling in favor of giving him a big kiss on the cheek. "Where's your partner in crime at?"

"What partner in crime?" Tryg asked innocently.

James raised his eyebrows. "Connor. He's not with you. Is he with Tiffany?"

"He can't be with Tiffany," Mindy said. "Tiffany took the girls out on a walk and they're not back yet. Connor didn't want to go because he said the girls are mean."

"The girls are mean," Tryg said, trying to use his complaint as a distraction but James wasn't buying it. Connor was not one to abandon Tryg's or Tiffany's side unless…

"Did he go see Cooper?" James asked.

"I want to go to the park," Tryg said suddenly, totally avoiding the question. "Can we go to the park Daddy?"

"Can you tell me where Connor is first?" James gently prodded.

"I think going to the park is a great idea," Mindy said, jumping in when she saw the apprehensive look on Tryg's face. "I can call Tiffany and have her and the girls meet us down there and I can make a picnic-"

"Yeah!" Tryg said. "Mommy make a picnic! I like picnics!"

"What about Connor?" James said, knowing that he had to be with Cooper and not liking it one little bit. When he said he didn't want Mindy or any of the babies around Cooper, that did include Connor. The only reason he wasn't quite as strict with Connor on the rule was because Mindy convinced him that was the only way to keep peace in the family. Connor was too deeply attached to Cooper and had no real understanding of why he couldn't be around them anymore to allow himself to be separated completely. She didn't want Connor to run away again and try to stay away for good and against James's better judgment he allowed himself to compromise on the matter. Of course that didn't mean he liked it one bit and if he could have his way, he would keep Connor away from Cooper just like the others.

Mindy shook her head and got up so she could kiss the tip of James's nose. "I'll make sure he's where we think he is. If he's not here then he has to be there."

James's eyes narrowed. "You're not going-"

"I don't have to go baby. I can call and Cooper will answer. He's my bitch, remember?"

James just shook his head and hugged Tryg tightly as Mindy grabbed her phone. "Bitches don't rape their bitch masters," he muttered under his breath. _And if Connor's not with him or if he's hurt in any way I'm putting my foot through that fucker's skull._


	4. Chapter 4

**Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! **NeroAnne**: It'll definitely be an interesting meeting, that's for sure. And while adorable, I don't envy anyone who has to take watch the dynamic duo of Connor and Tryg. They're handfuls by themselves so together its just insane.

…

"Yo bitch!" Mindy slapped Tiffany's hand in the driveway as she came in with the twins, Amber, Fievel, and Oxa. The blonde stopped walking and gave her best friend a jerk of the head forwards.

"Yo what?" Tiffany noticed Mindy had her signature baby pink Blackberry in her hand and frowned, "What are we doing, who are you calling?"

"Get your shit together and come with me" Mindy pointed to her little Porsche and smiled gently, "We're goin' on a god damn picnic and there's too fuckin' many of us so I can take three in Tatyana" why Mindy gave her little sports car a Russian name when she was Polish beyond any definition was lost on Tiffany, "and Jamie will take the rest"

"Which lucky three are in the back with us?" Tiffany went to ask, but realized that Thorn, Scarlett, and Amber were standing innocently behind them and grinned sheepishly, "Oh never mind! Girls' car!"

"You're damn right" at this point Amber didn't even realize how foul her mouth was, she just headed inside to say hi to James and grab her little pink digital camera to add to the stacks upon stacks of photo albums she collected since the entire family including Mindy were quite photogenic. Mindy refused pictures to be displayed anywhere in the house but that didn't infringe on having pictures taken of herself. She had more pictures of her than anyone in the world so she never turned down one of Amber's opportunities.

"I have to call Cooper…" Mindy watched Tiffany's face fall and cringe, almost jumping back as the younger blonde reached to grab her phone but Mindy shook her head and did a crazy twist with her torso to get away from the tall blonde's grasp.

"Hey!" Tiffany shouted after her as Mindy literally jumped and crawled on top of her own little Porsche waiting in the driveway to be driven somewhere, "Bitch get down from there!"

"MAKE me!" the little ball of raven hair antagonized, lying on her back so her lengthy raven hair splayed all over the back windshield as she dialed Cooper's number.

She drummed her fingers impatiently on the top of the roof and curled her plump lips as Cooper was dialed.

"Pick up, Bub" she groaned as Tiffany's fingers trickled up her stomach and Mindy's legs kicked into the air ala Shawn Michaels, making her shriek and flip to her feet on top of the car to glare at her cackling best friend, "Bitch…"

"Ma?" Cooper's slightly shaky voice came from the other end which made Mindy puzzled and she pouted her lips.

"What-up?" she jerked her head forwards and Tiffany had to double over not to cry. Tiffany's hands went to her hips and she sighed while shaking her head knowingly at Mindy, who popped her weight to the right and failed to see the blonde leap on top of the car with her and pull her into her lap.

"Ahh…" Cooper swallowed hard and suddenly gasped, "Hey! Connor NO! Connor!"

Connor's manic giggling could be heard in the background and the young women exchanged glances.

"Connor! What are you doing?" Cooper shouted worriedly, making Mindy have no choice but to raise an eyebrow.

"Where the fuck are you?"

"Hold on…" Cooper disappeared for a moment, much struggling occurred, and finally a panting Cooper could be heard in the background, "Sorry…"

"Did you have incest or something?" Mindy asked worriedly and Tiffany looked like she wanted to vomit before shaking her head.

"Not even funny, Loo" she shook her head while swatting Mindy's face as the rockstar sniggered, "Not even fucking funny don't say that…I'm about to eat food"

"OH that's right!" Mindy rolled her eyes and glared at Tiffany, "You're the fuckin' pain in the ass I have to make you a god damn vegan sandwich!"

She was too worked up to notice Tiffany was giggling and Cooper was dumbstruck on the other line.

"What the fuck even IS a vegan sandwich anyway? Why don't ya just" she shrugged and motioned to the fake grass below, "drop to your knees and lick the fuckin' sod up since ya can't eat anything from god damn nature!"

Being a stereotypical Greek, Mindy was heavily against vegetarianism and veganism. She didn't even understand it really until someone had to slowly explain it to her that they ate no meat.

"Mommy!" Cooper gasped and had to laugh, "Chillax, I'm with Connor in Best Buy"

"What the hell is that?" Mindy raised an eyebrow, never ever having set foot in a department store of any kind. She only bought from the actual designers themselves or hired interior/exterior decorators to go out to foreign countries and purchase the best and most expensive version of whatever she wanted.

"A store, Mom" Cooper rolled his eyes and even Tiffany had to snicker and snuggle Mindy's neck, but even still she was confused.

"What the hell do you buy there that is 'best'?"

"A TV" Cooper said simply not to confuse her and explain what it is, "I want to buy a TV so I don't go totally insane"

"Heh…" Mindy snickered when Cooper's eyebrows narrowed playfully and he literally held Connor by the scruff of his neck.

"Alright, bitch" Cooper went to rag on her jokingly like he usually did but for some reason he heeled…what if James was still around? He'd be fucking dead if he was.

"What?" Mindy waited with her tongue between her teeth for the answer and received none so she smiled gently and hugged Tiffany with one arm, "I thought so."

"Connor apparently learned he loves unplugging the display TV's and tying the cords together to-"

"I do NOT Coopy!" Connor shouted immediately and was clearly wrestling him for the phone, "Really, Mommy I didn't do it honest! I'm not a bad boy like that COOPY makes me a bad boy like that it was COOPY!"

"And I believe you, baby" Mindy giggled and slid off the roof of the car with Tiffany, "Cooper's a big old ass-master like that."

"MOM!" Cooper yelped and listened to the sound of her laughter, "What the hell?"

"Did you find a TV you like yet?" she sighed and hugged both Thorn and Oxa close. The Serval purred against Mindy's hips and Thorn leaned over the jungle cat's back like a sack of potatoes since Oxa was so big. Cooper didn't answer in time obviously, which drove Mindy's point home and she sighed, "That is because you wented to this 'Best Buy' when I coulda taked you to Sony or something in the city and gotted you a perfect one!"

"Really, Mom…" he exhaled gently, "it's alright."

"How was the Bee?" she had given him her prized (and most favorite) yellow Porsche 2010 Boxster. She had a Boxster in every color but 'Bumblebee' was her favorite. By trusting Cooper with 'the Bee' she was trusting him with her life essentially. James was highly against her giving him Cooper that car because he knew how she felt about it, so if Cooper fucked it up aside from kicking his ass James would have to buy her a new one so she didn't cry.

"Fucking awesome, Mom" he did love driving that thing. Mindy's little fleet of Porsche's were admittedly completely awesome to drive. He had been giving Connor a thrill by keeping the top of the convertible down, music blasting, and weaving through traffic since all the local cops knew Mindy's plates and never ever pulled her over. She was Mindy fucking Lawson nobody was pulling her over if they could help it. "Thank you so fucking much for letting me borrow him" the cars had genders too.

"Borrow him?" she snorted, "He's yours, just take care of the Bee because I love him so much we have been through many roads together"

"You're such a guy…" Tiffany rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out in disinterest. Mindy totally loved cars even though she never pumped her own gas in her life. She always got whoever she was with or the guy behind the counter to do it.

"How did your first night go, Cooper Benjamin?" she ignored Tiffany's comment and furrowed her brow worriedly, "I was thinkin' about you…"

"I'm sure you were" Cooper rolled his eyes, "My first night was about as magical as your date last night"

"BULLshit!" Mindy shouted with a bit of a giggle, "You forget I see through lies."

"The guys are painting right now so I'm trying to keep Connor out of the house"

"Smart bitch" Mindy nodded while checking her pink manicured nails, "Just PLEASE if you are going to be taking care of Connor keep two eyes on him"

"I know, Mommy" he wanted to tell her what shit he felt like and ask her to come over, but he knew better than to do so especially if James could be lurking around. He felt weird even being on the phone with her.

"Tell Connor to be good and that I love him, okay?"

"I love you TOO, Mommy!" Connor shouted while seemingly struggling with Cooper, "See you later!"

"I love you" Cooper rasped, making Mindy uncomfortable and she frowned.

"Cooper…"

"Mommy…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "you're the best. And you're beautiful. And I…" he stopped and heaved a couple breaths before running a hand through his hair and hugging himself, "Mommy, I need you!"

"I'm goin' out with Daddy and the babies for a bit…" she frowned while clamping a hand in her massive amount of hair, "but maybe when I pick Connor up later I'll see you and your new shitty TV from the 'Best buy'"

He had to smile at her words he couldn't help it. She made his shitty fucking life better just by opening her ignorant little mouth.

"I love you…" he repeated slower while nodding, "I really love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, bub" she smiled before taking a breath through her teeth, "Peace, bub."

…

The moment he knew she hung up, Cooper ran a hand through his hair and rested his back to a shelf, throwing his head back and curling his lips to get the feeling of being so fucking worthless and weak on his own out of his head. He HAD someone looking out for him who would help him out where she could and make sure all was okay…but that didn't change the fact that he was single, jobless, alone, and despised by his own siblings on top of everything else. He truly sucked.

…

Entering her parents' bedroom to check on the status of her father and baby sisters, Scarlett smiled to see Chelsea was seated the spot where James, Mindy, Elizabeth, and occasionally her slept dressed like an absolute doll. She wore a long white button-down designer peacoat with little black shoes, her long curly blonde hair down, and large-framed black round sunglasses on her face with a little clutch in her hand. The attitude the baby displayed made the outfit, especially with how her lips pouted as she waited for James to stop obsessing over Elizabeth.

"Daddy…" Chelsea tried to get his attention, but the second James looked up from dressing Elizabeth on the bed the infant reached out with a squeal and grabbed his face.

"Da da!" Elizabeth shouted at him and naturally he melted, leaning forwards and taking her fingers in his mouth before kissing her everywhere.

Chelsea pouted until he leaned towards her and kissed her on the lips as she waited patiently for him, the way he had her dressed making her out to be a complete little fashionista. Elizabeth wore a pink and yellow plaid sundress with a big bow in her short blonde hair and white socks and shoes, simply stealing her father's attention by grabbing his fingers and gnawing on them.

"I love you, Lizzie Bear…!" he cooed happily before burying his nose in her stomach for a moment to hear her laugh.

"Cooper has Connor" Scarlett interrupted before sitting on the bed to hug her father's neck. Pulling his eyes from Elizabeth, he rubbed noses with Scarlett before they kissed and he held her close. "Mommy called him on the phone"

"Thank you for telling me that, sweetheart" he said softly before burying his face in her shoulder and pushing the hip-length straight blonde hair behind her shoulder, "Did you have a nice walk with Aunt Taryn?"

"Yes, Daddy" Scarlett nodded before running her fingers through his hair and down the bridge of his nose, "Did you have a nice date with Mommy last night?"

"We always have nice dates, thank you" he nodded and gave her a kiss, "But what's even better about them is when we get to come home to you guys."

"Liar" Scarlett giggled and they kissed again, "I pick Mommy's dresses, you know" she nodded at him with wide eyes, "Mommy takes me shopping for everything because she KNOWS I am the best at it"

"Yes you are" he nodded and wrapped his arms around her while keeping a watchful eye on Elizabeth, "And I always love what Mommy wears"

"Mhm" Scarlett's plump lips curled smugly, "So much you always take it off"

"Now Scarlett Amy-" his eyebrows rose and he chuckled only to be kissed more.

"You are so beautiful, Daddy…" she sighed while touching his face and studying it closely, "you should be a model."

"Nah" he wrinkled his nose and kissed her nose, "Modeling's for twinks…I like being a daddy MUCH better."

"You are a good Daddy" she nodded while running a finger down the bridge of his nose and pressing their foreheads together, "You are the best Daddy. You hate your real job anyway"

"Yes I do" he sighed with a shake of the head, "I don't need it, once I drop dead you guys get to run it"

She nodded along to that before pursing her lips and frowning.

"Daddy?"

He furrowed his brow and nodded at her.

"Why do you have Grandpa's company if you hated him so much?" she asked a bit astutely, "He was a bad man you should not keep his name alive" she nodded firmly at him, "Mommy and you have too much money you can both never work again."

"I don't work though…" he sighed before kissing the top of her blonde head, "and that's a very good question. Before I met Mommy though…" he reminded her gently and nuzzled her, "Grandpa's company was my income"

"But you don't NEED it, Daddy!" she pleaded gently, "Grandma and Grandpa were MEAN I don't like them, Daddy! They hurt you!" she frowned and hugged his neck, kissing the scar repeatedly and running her fingers along it, "You can't be nice to people who hurt you"

"Ah!" his eyebrows raised and they snuggled, "But I wasn't, darling, remember? I told you how I killed them and chopped them up into little bits?"

She nodded eagerly.

"I love you. Don't worry about me"

"Da da da da!" Elizabeth yelled at him until he lifted and kissed her, dragging Chelsea over as well and making Scarlett giggle at them.

"Lizzie Bear looks JUST like you, Daddy" she nodded at him with a giggle, "She's so beautiful"

"What can I say?" he sighed before kissing both Scarlett and Chelsea, "I spawn all beautiful women."

"I think I have your skin" Scarlett nodded as she realized how close their skin tones were, "Mommy is so white but we are so tan I got my skin from you."

He grinned widely at that for more reasons than one before kissing on top of her head.

…

"Okay…" Tiffany raised her eyebrows and giggled at the Subway sandwiches Mindy was pulling out of her perfectly packed picnic basket, "only YOU would bring SUBWAY to a picnic!" she shook her head at Mindy as her best friend ignored her and simply divvied everything out to everyone at the park. Normally cameras would have been up their asses by now, but James was so intimidating no one would dare try it. As it was, Mindy was in his lap with Elizabeth and of course they were being all lovey and hand-holdy. They wouldn't be the same couple in the absence of all that.

"I didn't feel like sandwiching" Mindy shrugged before handing them all out, but Tiffany new the truth of the matter which was that Mindy was exhausted beyond belief from the previous night and had no drive for anything. "Or making rabbit-I mean VEGAN food."

"I like Subway" James defended her playfully with a kiss to her temple, "though I like Baby Doll's sandwiches more because she puts love in them"

"Kiss ass" Tiffany muttered as Mindy craned her neck with a completely bashful look on her face and they kissed.

"I love you, Jamie" she giggled as the kids all ate and Amber took a picture of Mindy and James kissing the moment a hand was placed to his cheek.

"I love you too" he whispered gently before extending an arm and flipping Tryg over his shoulder to hand him a sandwich, "What time do you think Connor will be home?"

"I dunno" she shrugged and kissed the tips of his fingers, "I'll call Cooper in a bit and ask, okay?"

Wordlessly he nodded and made sure everyone had food before eating.

…

"Come on, Coopy come on!" Connor groaned while pulling Cooper along the path towards the playground, "You PROMISED!"

"Yes I did" he sighed while heading with Connor towards the playground. He had decided on a nice-sized plasma screen and although he hated spending Mindy's money, he did so on this one. She was so fucking loaded she wouldn't have noticed if he had purchased every electronic in the store. Connor had managed to survive the mile-long line and for that he now got the park. Both Spike and Snoopy were at his side and Cooper kept his phone on him god forbid he needed it.

…

As the kids with the exception of Elizabeth all ran off to play, Mindy, Tiffany, and James cleaned up when Elizabeth thought it would be cool to grab a handful of dirt and try to feed it to James, which made both women laugh and although he was really not in the mood to eat that (when was he ever?), reluctantly his mouth opened and he let her feed it to him, making the women want to throw up when he quickly turned and spit it out, Mindy hugging his neck splay-legged from behind and feeding him several pieces of gum.

"What a fuckin' champ…" she giggled and they kissed, holding each other and beginning to turn it into a makeout session.

"Oh HAI, third wheel!" Tiffany shouted at the both of them to make them stop, and reluctantly they did and Mindy nuzzled James's neck instead, "I love the hell out of you two, but how do you not get bored?"

The couple exchanged glances and shrugged.

"TRYGGY?" that gasp made all three adults snap their heads to see Connor and Tryg run at the other and butt heads…but by the time they'd realized what hit them it was too late. James had already handed Elizabeth off to Mindy and stood up, glaring at Cooper who stood not far behind Connor. Tryg was at Connor's feet making Cooper about seven feet too close to his youngest son.

Making eye contact Cooper immediately shrank back meekly but James was having none of it.

"What the hell are YOU doing here?" James barked, realizing only moments earlier that Cooper had been in contact with Mindy, "You think because you're on speaking terms that I'll fucking let you anywhere near my family you raping little son of a bitch?"

"No!" Cooper immediately shook his head and backed more, "Dad" he cringed at that, "I…"

"I don't give a DAMN what you have to say to explain yourself because I don't GIVE a damn!" James hissed, "What I want is you away from my family, is that understood?"

"Daddy!" Connor tried to interject but James shot him a look.

"You think you can just come back in and try to blend with my family for the media you're fucking WRONG" James spat with a shake of the head, "I already released a public statement claiming you are no longer my beneficiary because I have a biological daughter to take it over when I'm gone and she will divide it among the responsible siblings evenly. Connor and Chelsea stay with my wife and I."

"Dad" he begged lighter, "PLEASE listen to-"

"I'm DONE listening to you because you know WHY?" James hissed, "Last time I listened to you you were justifying how you wanted to FUCK my wife and then you RAPED her! FUCK YOU!" he whipped his knife out of his pocket and started to scare him off, "Come NEAR my family again and watch what happens!"

Nervously Cooper nodded and backed another couple steps. Connor wanted to go after him, but actually heeded Tiffany and Tryg's shakes of the head. James would have gone after him too, but Mindy grabbed his arm and he pulled her phone from her hand, fiddling with it and she frowned.

"What are you doing, Jamie-darling?"

"You have no reason to have his number" he deleted it before handing it back to her, much to her astonishment. "I love you, but I don't want him within a hundred fucking feet of you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne:** lol Connor would be a better choice, just for the simple fact that Mommy and especially Daddy are protective of dear Lizzie Bear. And James as a model… *ponders some more and shakes head* Only Scarlett would think of that for him lol **EternalxInsanity**: That evil laptop *shakes head at it* Anyway, yeah, James really did go off there. He isn't fucking around on this at all.

…

Cooper got into the car, not realizing how much he was shaking until he tried to start the car. He kept dropping the keys over and over again, and he finally had to stop and force himself to take a couple of deep breaths so he could try to calm back down. It wasn't easy though. His flight response had gone into full throttle because James had actually just tried to pull a knife on him. Nothing he had said had gone through his dad's brain at all. All he had done was try to keep Connor happy and just about got gutted because James had been around. _Fuck my timing sucks_, he thought as he held on the keys for dear life and finally managed to get the car started. He honestly had known nothing about the whole family being at the park. Mindy hadn't said a word about where it was they were all going. If he had known he would have found another park to take Connor too.

"Come on, get a hold of yourself," he muttered under his breath as he drove off. He had to get his head on straight because Mindy was going to go nuts if anything happened to this car. He had promised her that he would take care of it and he meant to do just that. That job though was hard to focus on when he was terrified out of his mind. Just thinking about James these days freaked him out, so seeing him face to face and have it go the way he had feared it would had really gotten to him. He knew that he deserved James's hate but that didn't mean it got to him any less. He wanted to somehow try to make things right but he honestly didn't see how that was possible. James had his mind made up about him and Cooper didn't know how to get him to change his mind. It didn't even seem possible at this point and the future of it looked pretty bleak too.

He turned on to his street but he didn't bother going back to his house. Not now anyway. He just had to get away…he wasn't sure where he was even heading but he had to get away for awhile. He wanted to escape his problems and his own pathetic self so he could have some peace. Maybe he didn't deserve that but he wanted it anyway. He didn't know how he was going to keep going on if he didn't get some sort of peace soon. It literally felt like his sanity was beginning to bail on him, leaving him helpless against the abyss that was his life.

He pressed on the gas harder, driving aimlessly for a good half hour before finally pulling into the parking lot of a liquor store. If he couldn't force himself to forget on his own then he would use some alcohol to help him out. Before he got out of the car though, he hesitantly pulled out his prepaid phone and stared at it carefully. Logic was telling him to just put the phone away but he wasn't listening to it. He was too emotional for logic. He dialed Jeff's number and waited, not even realizing his whole body was shaking.

"Hello?" Jeff said, answering after the fourth ring.

Cooper stayed silent, partly out of fear and partly because once again, he had no idea what to say.

"Oh for God's sakes, Cooper is this you?"

Cooper just about died on the spot. _Oh fuck me…_

"This is you isn't it?" Jeff sounded pissed as hell. "Cooper this is NOT funny. If you're going to fucking phone stalk me at least have the balls to say something."

Cooper quickly just hung up and placed the phone in the passengers seat, too ashamed of himself to speak a word. What the fuck had he been thinking? Had he been that naïve to think Jeff would never figure out it was him? "Fuck," he said under his breath. "Fuck fuck fu-" His breath caught in his throat as he heard his other phone ring. His heart dropped down to his stomach because he knew it was Jeff before he even checked it. "Shit." He set that phone next to the other one, not even bothering to answer it. Instead he got out of the car and headed into the store, in more need of a way to forget than ever before.

…

Jeff let Cooper's phone ring until he got his voicemail and then he hung up. He almost left a message cursing Cooper out but then realized it probably wouldn't even do any good. Cooper was so determined to be a coward and play this ridiculous game of phone tag of him that and probably wouldn't even listen to any kind of message left for him. "Fuck you Cooper," he grumbled, tossing his phone aside. This was so fucking unfair. He was trying to move on from his relationship with Cooper and while it was already harder than he wanted it to be, Cooper's constant phone calls were making it even worse.

He stared at his blank canvas, really not in the mood to paint now. Sighing loudly, he put his stuff away and then went to leave his house, only to run into Matt who had his hand raised to begin to knock on the door. "Hey man," Matt said, putting his hand back down. "What's up?"

"Not much," Jeff said with a shrug. He stuffed his hands into his pocket. "I was actually gonna go for a walk-"

"Cool." Matt let himself in without invitation, which annoyed Jeff. He loved his brother to death but the way he acted sometimes annoyed him to no end. Matt had the tendency to act like a complete self entitled asshole and he had been even worse than usual lately. "What are you doing after that?"

Jeff just shrugged, not liking where this was going already. "I don't know, why?"

"Well Shannon, Shane and I were going out tonight and we want you to come with us." Matt wasn't even asking if Jeff wanted to go. He was just saying what he and the others wanted and not giving a damn about what Jeff himself wanted. "We can hook you up with a nice girl-"

"First of all, I'm not even going so we can forget about that idea right now," Jeff said, not in the mood to be dealing with this right now. "And second of all, even if I did go, I wouldn't want to be set up with anyone, girl or guy."

Matt frowned. "Well why not? You broke up with Cooper ages ago. Just get over it."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Get over it? That's real easy for you to say Matt. I hate to break this to you though, it's NOT that easy for me." He wasn't even sure why he was bothering to have this conversation. Matt had made it perfectly clear that he hadn't liked Cooper the one time he had met him and the feeling had been more than mutual on Cooper's behalf. "I loved him and he fucking-"

"Fucked your ex-girlfriend, I know," Matt said with a roll of his eyes. He knew what had happened between Cooper and Mindy because Jeff had been so upset that he had ranted about it without thinking and was now regretting it because it was adding fuel to Matt's fire. Matt had never liked Mindy and it had gotten much worse after his breakup with Amy. Mindy had been Team Lita all the way even though she and Edge utterly despised each other so Matt absolutely hated Mindy now and talked enough crap about her that Jeff couldn't stand it.

"He RAPED her," Jeff snapped. "What part of that can't you not get?"

Matt shrugged. "Mindy's a slut dude. Whatever happened between them I'm sure she fucking brought on herself."

Now that was just going way too fucking far. Jeff balled up his fist and belted Matt right in the face, sending his older brother crashing to the ground. Matt looked shocked as hell and Jeff's hand hurt like a mother fucker immediately afterwards but he didn't care. He just bent down and grabbed Mark by the throat, shaking his head in absolute anger. "Say that again and I'll make sure James finds out the shit you're saying. Then we'll fucking find out if you'll still be running your mouth after that." The threat probably wasn't as effective as it should have been because Matt had never met James but Jeff didn't care. If James ever heard this shit he would go nuts and Jeff wouldn't step in and stop him. The shit Matt was saying was absolutely deplorable and he was not standing for it. "Now get out before I throw you out," he ordered, pulling Matt up so he could push him towards the door.

Matt gave him an angry look but didn't bother saying anything. He just stormed off and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Jeff alone in his house to stew in his anger.

…

"I can't fucking believe him," James said, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Ever since he had seen Cooper at the park he had been in an absolute rage and there seemed to be no stopping him. It didn't matter that Cooper hadn't done anything but shown up. The fact of the matter was was that James wished Mindy hadn't asked him not to kill Cooper. He didn't trust him not to hurt her again and he didn't trust him living so close to her and the kids. How Mindy had been hurt and traumatized that night still haunted him and just knowing that Cooper was still alive and close to home made it worse because it made him feel like he had failed yet again in his duty to protect her-and that did not set well with him at all. "Can you fucking believe him?"

"I didn't tell him we were there Jamie, honest," Mindy said, who was watching him go while holding Elizabeth. Chelsea had been sitting at Mindy's feet but she had now chosen to get up and start pacing right along James, saying his name over and over again under her breath. "Honestly I didn't. I tolded him we were going out but I didn't say where."

James nodded. "I believe you." He scooped Chelsea into his arms and embraced Mindy, planting a firm kiss on her lips. "I know you wouldn't have done that unless he pulled some sort of evil rapist mindfuck on you." He ran his fingers through her hair and knocked his forehead against hers. "I just fucking lost it Baby Doll. I can't stand him. I want him out of our lives Baby Doll. Permanently."

Mindy frowned and gently touched his face. "Jamie-"

He kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her willing mouth and making out with her until both of their lungs felt like they were on fire. "I don't trust him Baby Doll," he said quietly. "I can't trust him and I can't forgive him."

"I know," Mindy said, rubbing noses with him. She knew all about Joseph, who had raped countless girls before getting himself killed for trying to rape Annabelle. Even though James had suffered more long term damage from Caroline, his opinions of anyone who committed rape (either just once or multiple times) came from Daddy Dearest. "But he is sorry though. I know he is."

He shook his head. "That don't matter. He hurt you. There's no going back from that."

She smiled softly and ran her fingers over his chest. "Let's go kill someone," she suggested. She knew that would make him feel much much better and get his mind off of things.

His eyes brightened considerably at that suggestion. "Cooper?" he said hopefully.

"Jamie!"

He pouted his lips and sighed. "It was worth a try wasn't it?" He nipped at her nose playfully and made her giggle. "We'll get someone good and bloody Baby Doll," he vowed. "We'll find the perfect person and paint the town red with their blood."

"We're good painters," Mindy said happily. "We can make all sorts of pretty pictures."

Chelsea looked back and forth between her parents before finally reaching out and touching James's face. "Daddy?"

"Yes Princess?" James said, a huge smile immediately spreading over his face.

"Me paint?" She hugged his neck possessively and eyed Elizabeth warily, who was reaching out for James now that he was paying attention to someone who was not her or Mindy.

James blinked and exchanged a glance with Mindy, who looked just as surprised as he did. "You want to paint with me and Mommy?" he finally asked.

"Yes!" Chelsea said excitedly. "Yes yes yes!"

"Okay," he agreed, moving a stray piece of hair out of her face. "Mommy and I will paint a pretty picture with you before we go. Does that sound good to you?"

She nodded and pressed her lips against his.

"Da!" Elizabeth said impatiently. "Dada!"

"Do you want to paint too Lizzie Bear?" he asked, reaching out and tickling her stomach. "Do you want to paint with me and Mommy and Chelsea?"

Elizabeth squealed and waved her fists around.

Mindy giggled. "I think that's a yes."

"I think so too," James agreed. "And it works just fine for me." He gave Elizabeth a kiss, laughing as she grabbed his nose and gave it a big old squeeze."

…

"It's not fair Tiffany!" Connor whined, stomping his foot as he stared at his favorite babysitter unhappily. She and Tryg were up in his room with him and he was throwing quite the fit for them because they were the ones listening to him. "Cooper didn't do anything wrong! He just took me to the park because I was a good boy at the store! We didn't know stupid Daddy was there!"

Tiffany sighed and tried to pull Connor to sit down next to her. "I know sweetheart but-"

"Daddy is mean!" Connor declared angrily. He hadn't even heard a word she had just said. "Mean mean mean!" He picked up the chair that he had snuck up there the other day when he was playing and hurled it against the wall as hard as he could.

"CONNOR!" Tiffany yelled as Tryg jumped back in fright. "That is enough! We do not throw things like that in this house!"

Connor was beyond listening at this point. He didn't think this was fair at all. Cooper was trying to be good but James wasn't giving him any chance at all. Connor still lacked the understanding to know that the trust between Cooper and James had been completely broken and even if it could somehow eventually be pieced back together, it was never going to be the same. A lot of it had to do with his childlike state but there was also a huge part of him that was like James and he only really saw what he wanted to see. James wasn't like that as much as he was before because Mindy's influence was rubbing off on him, but Connor was still and he was more than likely never going to change.

"Daddy was trying to protect us Connor," Tryg said, sticking up for James. Despite being Connor's partner in crime, he definitely was on everyone else's side when it came to this matter. He had Kane's mommy obsession and despite them annoying him he did adore his sisters, so when James said Cooper was bad and thought he could hurt Mindy again or maybe any of the other girls, that was enough for Tryg to turn against Cooper. "He didn't want Cooper to hurt-"

"Coopy wasn't gonna hurt anyone!" Connor yelled angrily. "He wasn't he wasn't he wasn't!" He threw himself down to the ground and burst into angry tears, not giving a shit about how he loud he was being.

Tiffany just shook her head and motioned for Tryg to stay back while she got on the floor and wrapped her arms around Connor. There were a lot of things she wanted to say at the moment but now was not really the time to say them. Connor was way too upset and was gong to listen to absolutely nobody about this. It was very frustrating but it was just the way it was. Spending so much time with him had taught her to accept that he was going to have his point of view on things and that was going to be that. Once he made up his mind about something there was really no changing it. All she could really do was try to get him calmed back down and distracted before he decided to get into James's face and tell him how "mean" he thought he was.

…

Cooper had no idea where he was anymore. He had been drinking for…well he had no sense of time anymore but he knew it had to have been for a long time now. Night had fallen and he was shivering like crazy for some reason. Mindy's car was parked down in a casino parking lot and he had wandered away from there, having no interest in trying to get into the casino itself. No, his interest had been directed at the Palms hotel. He had snuck in there and was now standing on the very top of it, staring down at the bright lights of the city below him. He was insanely high up and that was fine with him. It was going to work out exactly in his favor.

He chugged the rest of his vodka and tossed it aside, wobbling in place before stepping up on the ledge. His legs were shaking like crazy and he was so drunk that he could barely even stand up straight. "Oh shit," he muttered. If he fell now he was going to have to be scraped up off the ground. And really, he deserved nothing less. He was disgusting. Absolutely fucking disgusting. He just needed to die now and leave everyone alone so he would stop hurting them and he could stop being in pain himself. Just one jump could change everything…

He lifted his foot up and almost went to do it but then put it back on to the ledge with the other one. Then he hugged himself tightly, not even realizing he was crying. This was always his problem. He was scared to die. He handed out death innocent people all the time but he was scared to die himself. "Come on come on…" he said, trying to will himself to just jump and do it. But he didn't do it though. He was too scared. _Another way,_ he decided. _I'll do it another way._

He went to step back on to the roof but that was when the alcohol reared its ugly head and made him lose his balance. He slipped and fell, nearly inadvertently tumbling to his own death before managing to grab on to the ledge out of instinct alone. "Fuck!" he shouted, not daring to look down because he was fucked if he did. "Fuck fuck fuck!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: It would be nice if that was the case but Matt definitely don't like Mindy. He never really did to begin with and when the whole thing down with him, Amy and Adam Mindy was firmly on team Amy and that kind of just helped cement the state of their relationship. And yeah, Cooper needs to talk to Jeff soon and just get it done with (along with try to do something to maybe fix things between him and James so he don't have to run for his life every time they see each other). Getting drunk and avoiding the situation hasn't done him any good so far. **EternalxInsanity**: Don't blame me! He's the one who got drunk and stupid! *points to Cooper* And we'll find out James's reaction to the whole thing real soon.

…

A man and a woman fumbled for their room key while entering the Palms hotel when they caught a peculiar sight dangling from the roof. The woman pouted her lips and touched her husband's arm while pointing with a manicured nail towards the dangling object high above their heads.

"Is that a…?" she furrowed her brow and glanced at her husband, who put on a pair of distance glasses and nearly jumped at the sight of Cooper dangling from the roof. "That's a MAN, isn't it?"

"Hold on…" worriedly he pulled out his cell phone and pointed inside the revolving doors, "Get someone from the front desk!" Frantically she nodded and jogged inside as he dialed a number. "Yes…my name is Mike Castaldo I'm staying at the Palms…and there's a man dangling from the roof by the tips of his fingers I don't think he can really hold on"

…

Chelsea sat in James's lap carefully holding a paintbrush with his guidance and was making a picture on a large canvas that James was sharing with her inside Mindy's piano room which had basically been turned into a studio for all of her little artsy creations. Elizabeth was finger painting with Mindy, though of course the silly thing was trying to stick her fingers in her mouth so instead of really painting with her infant daughter, Mindy was controlling the possible crisis by keeping the baby's fingers covered in sticky paint from her mouth.

"What color next, Lizzie Bear?" Mindy cleaned her fingers off happily with a moist towelette and kissed the side of the baby's head, "Do you want BLUE, Lizzie Bear? Or GREEN?"

Elizabeth released a happy coo and slammed the tiny tips of her fingers in red, making Mindy pout her lips and make eye contact with James, who had his head rested against the side of Chelsea's but was watching his infant out the corner of his eye nonetheless.

"Why am I not surprised?" Mindy sighed while looking to James, who leaned across the table and kissed his infant, receiving two hands slapped to the side of his face and once he pulled back there were two red handprints on his face. Mindy giggled as did Elizabeth and Chelsea. "I like that look on you, Jamie…" she giggled and got a mischievous look on her face at the paint on James's face, "Lizzie Bear gaved me some nice and interesting ideas…"

"Did she?" he raised an eyebrow as Mindy started dipping her own fingers in the paint and she nodded as Chelsea turned to James and they kissed.

"Fish…" Chelsea pointed to the picture she and James were making of the daddy fish which was black with brown eyes and the baby fish which was blonde with blue eyes.

"What about them, Princess?" he smiled gently while brushing her hair from her face, "What do fish do?"

"Swim!" Chelsea nodded and received a kiss to the lips.

"And where do fish live?"

"Inna…" she pouted her lips for a moment before throwing her arms out happily, "OCEAN!"

"What a SMART girl I have!" he kissed her cheek and watched her giggle when Chelsea held the brush in the air and smiled.

"Paintbrush!"

"Yes it is" he nodded and made sure she was looking him in the eye the entire time before speaking again, "and what do we do with paintbrushes when we're finished with them?"

Chelsea pointed to the intricate display cases Mindy had of all her art equipment and James nodded with a kiss to her forehead.

"That's right, we clean up" he went to speak more to her when a kiss was placed on his neck and fingers ran through his hair, only moments later he realized after kissing her back that Mindy had dipped her fingers in all sorts of paint and had run them through his hair.

"You're so pretty now" she giggled as he looked up and reached back to give both her and Elizabeth kisses, "You're like Jeffrey Nero, Jamie!"

She giggled as James's eyebrows rose at that and he now looked for a mirror of some kind to see what she had done to his hair when she leaned down and they kissed again.

"Who do you feel like maiming tonight, darling?" she smiled gently and allowed Elizabeth to place her fingers on his neck and run them down, causing him to give the infant a fake stern glare and then he nommed on her cheek. Elizabeth threw her head back and shrieked before launching herself forwards and hugged his head covered in paint.

"Lizzie Bear…!" he cringed nervously for a moment before noticing no paint of any kind was on her face and he took a breath of relief. There were toxins in paint it was a legitimate fear of the baby getting any of it in her mouth.

"She is fine, Jamie" Mindy giggled before continuing to kiss him, "She will not be dying of all sorts of toxins."

"Doesn't mean I don't worry…" he frowned and snuggled the top of Elizabeth's head when Mindy bopped him on top of the head with a tube of paint. "What?" he smirked and leaned up to kiss her.

"After we paint the town red tonight…" she giggled and swept her tongue inside his mouth and placed a palm to his face, "I'ma paint you all sorts a' fun colors tomorrow…"

"Meaning I'll be doing laundry all day tomorrow"

"It's washable, sillybuns" she showed him a tube of yellow and giggled, "I have not painted your body in anything for a while"

"I just bought chocolate syrup" he pointed out suggestively when she shook her head and poked his nose.

"Tomorrow, darling" she giggled and they kissed, "for tonight its art class."

"Art class…" he nodded with curled lips before kissing her chest and clamping a hand in her hair, "I could use a lesson."

"And then shower because I do not want to sleep in it-"

"It's a date" he kissed her and snuggled the crook of her neck when the phone rang. The couple exchanged glances and James stood to go get it when Mindy shook her head and gave him a quick kiss before tossing her sea of raven hair about and jogging for the door.

"What would you like from my life?" she sighed and lifted the cordless house phone, heading back into her piano room to wrap her arms around James's neck and hang on him when the voice made her blood run cold.

"Mrs. Lawson?"

"Yes…?" her entire expression wiped away and James immediately looked ready to cut someone's throat.

…

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!" was the shriek which escaped Mindy the moment she arrived at the police station and threw Cooper into her car.

SLAP!

"WHAT'S YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH!" she shrieked and slapped him across the face twice as hard, "YOU DUMB MOTHER FUCKER I HATE YOU! HOW DARE YOU-" SMACK! "TRY AND KILL YOURSELF" SMACK! "I HATE YOU!"

Cooper leaned against the passenger seat window and cried, drunk and beyond miserable as his stepmother drove him home from the police station. She was reaching over and slapping, hitting, clawing, and punching him every two seconds shrieking and crying at the top of her lungs. His entire body was covered in a cold sweat and his face was drenched in tears. He desperately tried to hide his head in shame from her seeing him, but she just kept striking and screaming he couldn't even look at her.

"I'm sorry, Mommy!" he pleaded a thousand times over in that low, drawled voice that clearly screamed to her that he was drunk and all she could do was cry. Those ice-blue eyes became fierce to the point that he couldn't even look her way.

"FUCK YOU YOU'RE SORRY!" she growled and actually ripped at his hair, with her right hand, "How fucking DARE YOU! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HUH? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? DID YOU THINK THERE WAS CANDY AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT FALL? THAT EVERYTHING THAT MADE YOU SAD WOULD JUST FUCKING DISAPPEAR?"

"No…" he whimpered and cried drearily, making her scowl and roll her eyes at him before grabbing his hair and barring her teeth.

"God I fucking hate you…" she glared at him and grew quiet the rest of the way home. Cooper would glance at her occasionally but she wouldn't even look his way. All he did was cry and gaze at her beautiful face, waiting in vain for her to answer .

"Mommy…" he croaked as the tears streamed down his face, having such a fucking headache he couldn't even think, "Mommy, please…talk to me, talk to me, please Mommy…"

Nothing. She pulled the car in his driveway and ripped the keys out of the ignition.

"Get out."

Clumsily he tried to, but couldn't even get his fingers to fumble the handle so she swung the door open and waited for him with an icy glaze over her eyes. His head hung and she literally dragged him by his ear into the house before flinging him to the ground the moment she opened the garage door and kicked him in the kitchen. He groaned and whimpered, reaching to hug her ankles when she roundhoused him in the face and growled.

"You stay right the fuck there" her hands went to her hips and her eyes narrowed intensely, "and you tell me exactly what the fuck you were thinking…"

"I…" he croaked for a moment before shaking his head and spitting up tears, the pathetic state he was in shredding Mindy's heart in every way it could be shredded, "I no…" his eyes dropped and he cried a moment before making eye contact with her, "no wanna love no more, Mommy…" he cried and shook his head, "I don' wanna live no more, Mommy, I don' wanna live, I-"

SMACK!

"FUCK YOU YOU DON'T WANNA LIVE!" she snarled and knelt down to crawl in his face, and he didn't even flinch, "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU TRYING TO ESCAPE, HUH? YOU HAVE ME! YOU HAVE CONNOR! YOU FUCKING HAVE ME YOU SON OF A FUCKING BITCH I CANNOT STAND!"

"NO I don't!" he cried and shook his head, coughing and Mindy went to wrench his hands but saw the massive amounts of raw scrapes from holding the concrete and she cried. She cried so loud he started crying again too.,

"FUCK you!" she shrieked and started crying even harder, "You DO! YOU DO HAVE ME WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS? HUH?" she motioned to the little house she bought him and wept, 'WAS ALL THIS FOR NOTHING?"

"Daddy-"

"Don't you fucking bring up Daddy! Daddy is PROTECTING ME and YES he is right but you are NOT allowed to fucking die you son of a BITCH! You are not allowed to just fucking off yourself because you think everything is fucked! Things ARE fucked they will BE fucked for a LONG ASS TIME BUT YOU HAVE ME!" her eyes welled up and the hysteric crying began once more, "YOU FUCKING HAVE ME! YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE ME! I HATE YOU! HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PLAY GOD?"

He dropped his head back to a cabinet, clamped a hand in his hair to try and keep the tears from streaming down, and he whimpered in fear of her screaming.

"COOPER!" she shouted though he couldn't even make eye contact, "You look at me when I'm fucking talking to you, understand?"

His light blue eyes met hers and they cried at the other.

"Mommy…!" he sniffled and she grabbed his bloodied hands to start treating them, "Jeff don't love me no more, Joie's gone, I'm gone, you're gone I don't wanna be here no more NO Mommy NO!"

"I LOVE you" she corrected while pressing her forehead to his and giving him a kiss, "What the FUCK were you thinking, Cooper? What the fuck were you thinking with all that fucking shit? Better yet…" she sniffled and ran a hand through her hair, taking a moment to cry and not smack his face, "why didn't you fucking CALL ME, Cooper? CALL ME when you need me and I'll COME!"

"I'm a fucking…" he sniffled and started to cry, "worthless, disgusting rapist-"

"Don't spit Daddy's words out you know he gets very mad" she shook her head and kissed his forehead, grabbing a cloth to clean his cuts on his hands and slowly she kissed them, "I almost lost you tonight, do you have any idea what that woulda doned to me?" she cried and sniffled at him, "What you woulda doned to Connor?"

"You…" he croaked as she cleaned him off and shook his head, "nobody needs me, Mommy…nobody-"

"Shut up" she snapped and slapped him across the face, "shut the fuck up. I left your fucking father to come after you tonight, and for what?" she cried and shook her head at him, "To see you dangling off the edge of a fucking building?"

"Mommy…" he shook his head, "I'm so sorry, Mommy, please forgive me"

"No" she shook her head and kissed his fingers before hooking an arm around her shoulders so she could help him stand, "and you smell like a fucking keg you son of a bitch I can't stand it" she hissed while walking with him towards the bathroom. He stumbled a few times and she actually let him fall. Let him be reminded of what he did in the morning with bruises everywhere.

"I'm sorry, Mommy…" he croaked again while trying furiously to rub his eyes, but couldn't multitask on the way to the bathroom and kept falling over, so she eventually threw him into the bathroom and turned on the bathtub since she feared a concussion in the shower.

"No you're not" she shook her head before kissing his forehead and making the water as hot as she could stand to put her hand under, "But for some reason I keep pretending you do…"

Wordlessly she stripped him and forced him into the tub, kneeling and tossing the hip-length raven hair behind her before kissing the top of his head where the orange roots were coming in and she giggled, kissing his head and shaking her hers while holding back a rain of tears…and looking at him and thinking about what was about to happen to him made her sob loudly and fling her arms around his bare shoulders, crying and screaming to no one at the thought of losing him before scratching his back as hard as she could and growling.

"GOD I hate you!" she screeched even though Cooper knew she didn't mean it though, he didn't know what the hell to think anymore he didn't want to think. The hot water hit his skin like a thousand knives and burned his skin but it was good, it was pain. He wanted to be numb. He wanted to be numb and feel absolutely nothing. She couldn't even wash him she was so upset, clinging to him for her life and crying like nothing he'd heard come from her before.

"Who gets a call like that?" she shook her head and kissed his temple, "Only ME gets that call! Why can't I get a call from Jeffrey Nero saying you are having a romantic dinner? Or Connor telling me you guys maded a mess in the kitchen? WHY this, huh? Why do I get suicide calls?"

He sniffled and pressed his forehead to hers, looking her in the eye longingly and since he was drunk and wouldn't remember it she kissed him. He needed it, he needed something to keep him from driving an axe through his own skull and though she'd regret it later she couldn't help what she felt and she almost lost him. She had romantic feelings for him even though they were platonic, and she almost lost him. His breath smelled of something so strong she couldn't even think about it but she didn't care. His arms coiled around her body and they kissed until Cooper was seeing stars.

"I need you" she whispered while nodding with a hard swallow, "I need you, bub, I fucking need you okay? You're my mental torment buddy we get each other" her voice cracked as she tried to make him see her point, rubbing her nose against his and watching how his eyes started to come back to life as they kissed, "I don't wanna be without you, you are such a part of me"

"Dad's gonna kill me" he croaked while continuing to kiss her and hold her face with a hand, "He's gonna-"

"Daddy's gonna stay with me so he does not kill you tonight" she nodded with wide eyes and they kissed again, "I already maded him mad as hell because we were hunting tonight and I could not go because of YOU deciding to throw yourself off a fuckin' building-"

'Can't Be Tamed' by Miley Cyrus blasted and she lifted the baby pink Blackberry to answer it when the doorbell rang, making her frown and shake her head with a sigh.

"Hold on…" she warned Cooper quickly while standing and starting for the door, popping gum in her mouth and chewing it very quickly so her breath didn't smell or taste of the alcohol on Cooper's lips and spitting it out. "Jamie?" she pulled open the front door and they kissed eagerly, James's hands running over her butt before they kissed again and his tongue drifted into her mouth, tasting something strange in her mouth but he avoided the question. She was so happy to see him it didn't matter.

"Where is he?" he frowned and peered into the dark house, waiting for Mindy to take him by the hand and she frowned before kissing it.

"In the bathtub" she responded a bit drolly, "I cannot leave him in there drunk-"

"Yes you can" he responded coldly, "You most certainly can. Let him choke on his own fucking filth-"

"Jamie…" she grabbed his hand and they kissed again, squeezing it before shaking her head and pressing their foreheads together. "I cannot leave him alone tonight I HAVE to stay with him"

"You're not staying ANYWHERE alone" James responded coldly while glaring at the light coming from under the bathroom door, "You stay ANYWHERE other than home tonight you're stuck with me"

"Fine" she shrugged and they kissed more, "You wanna spend the night in Cooper's house-"

"That you bought with our money?" he shrugged, "I have every right to be here"

"Jamie…" she frowned and shook her head when they kissed more, "please do not kill him tonight,"

"Oh no he already tried to finish the job for me…" he rolled his eyes and hissed before hugging her under an arm and kissing her throat, "He's already two steps ahead of a perfect world"

"Jamie"

"No" he kissed her forehead, "He fucked my night of hunting and completely ruled out my art lesson…" he waited a moment and smirked, "unless…"

"There are two bedrooms we get one" she pointed to the room before shaking her head, "but I am too scared to sleep if he tries to kill himself"

"Then LET him" he snapped, "Why bother? He wants to fucking die let him die"

"And what about all those times I wanted to die?"

"You're not HIM"

"But people LOVE him, Jamie!"

"Outside of you and Connor?" he shrugged, "He's alone."

"And that is why he is killing himself…" she ran a hand through her hair, "I am not asking you to forgive him, Jamie, you know I would never ask that of you"

"I love you" he sighed before looking to the doorway and kissing her throat, "You want me to grab us dinner or something?"

"I am putting him to bed and taking everything sharp away from his room and stuff" she nodded and they kissed more, "After I put him to bed we will feast and find movies to watch on TV"

"I'll rent" he responded before kissing her more, "What do you want me to get?"

"House on Haunted Hill" she responded before kissing him and grabbing his butt flirtatiously, "We get to be babysitters"

"I'm not babysitting shit" he responded quickly before giving her a kiss on the way out the door, "I'm ensuring your safety" he nodded before giving her hand a kiss and she ran to throw her arms around his waist, "What do you want from White Castle?"

"Get a god damn case of rat burgers and three sacks of fries" she nodded before giving him a huge kiss, "Chocolate milkshake."

"I wouldn't ever forget" he grinned while holding her chin, "You take care until I get back."


	7. Chapter 7

**Esha Napoleon**: Yeah I know. He's not really going to win when it comes to this…but he's a stubborn boy and don't want to accept that. It's just how he is. **NeroAnne**: Oh yeah, I agree, she's scary as fuck when she goes off like that. I felt bad for Cooper having to deal with that like he did. **EternalxInsanity**: Oh yeah, of course he's obsessively protective. Mindy's his Baby Doll, she brings it out of him.

…

Cooper just laid there in the bathtub, almost slipping into unconsciousness a couple of times but then ending up just staying awake. His body was starting to go numb which was really really nice for him. Numbness was good. Numbness meant there was no pain. Of course this was only a relief from his physical pain. Emotionally he was still pretty much a wreck. Mindy's screams were ringing in his ears as were James's words to him and it was making him grab a hold of his legs and pulling them up to his chest so he could curl up into the fetal position. He felt so fucking lost and confused and his head hurt and it sucked because he didn't know how to make it all stop. He had chickened out of his own suicide and Mindy had kicked his ass for even daring to attempt it. He was definitely going to be feeling every blow she had dealt out in the morning but he wasn't too worried about that yet. The alcohol in his system and his complete and utter misery would not let him do that yet.

"Okay Bub, bath time is over," Mindy said, coming back with some clean clothes for Cooper to change into. "Come on, get up."

Cooper moved his head in her direction but didn't look her in the eye. He was honestly too ashamed and scared to do so. "I can stay in here," he slurred out, his eyes drooping tiredly. "I can stay in here and go to sleep-"

"You can't sleep in here stupid," she snapped. "You'll drown." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled on it until he got up to his feet. "And you're not drowning on me you son of a bitch." She tightened her grip on him as he stepped out of the tub, handing him a towel so he could dry himself off. "You hear me?"

Cooper whimpered and started trying to dry himself off, falling back into the wall because he couldn't keep his balance. He was shivering so much his teeth were chattering and he quickly started trying to pull his clothes on as fast as he could, which only resulted in him falling forward and banging himself up even more than he already was.

Mindy sighed loudly before helping him pull his clothes on. "This is what you get for trying to be a beerhead you dummy." She pulled him back up to his feet and began dragging him out of the room. "I'm not evens supposed to be helping you right now you know. Daddy told me to leave you in the tub until he got back and he would put you into bed."

"Then why you do this?" he asked, his unfocused eyes carefully looking towards her.

She shrugged. "Because." She opened his bedroom door and practically threw him on to his bed. "Daddy should be back soon so you stay in here for the night. We're playing babysitter so you don't decide to just throw yourself off another building." She grabbed the small trashcan that was by the desk and moved it over closer to the bed. "If you have to puke, puke in here or in the toilet. Daddy and I do not want to clean up your mess." She ran his hand through his hair and shook her head at him. "Daddy does not want to be here all night bub and he don't want me here either. But I tolded him we had to watch you before you did something completely RETARDED again like trying to KILL yourself."

Cooper sighed and pulled his blanket over him, returning to the fetal position he had been in in the tub. "Dad probably wants me to do it," he pointed out. "He wants me dead-"

"Stop it," Mindy snapped. "Don't talk like that. I love Daddy very much but that doesn't mean you get to say the mean stuff he says." She petted his hair, twirling her fingers around in it and pulling on it. "Your orange is coming in."

He groaned loudly at that. "No. No orange. I hate the orange."

"Well you haven't been dyeing your hair Bub. The orange won't stay away on its own."

"I'll make it go away," he mumbled. "No more orange. I don't want the orange. Tell the orange to go bye bye."

"Tell it yourself Bub," Mindy shot back. "I'm mad at you right now."

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, grabbing on to her arm and hugging it tight. "Don't be mad at me Mommy. I didn't mean it I'm sorry."

She sighed and gently pried her arm away from him. "Go to sleep," she ordered. "You're fucking smashed. You need to sleep so when you wake up I can give you an ass kicking you'll actually remember."

He whimpered again and tried to reach out for her again but his hand ended up just dropping weakly. His eyes were feeling very heavy and he could barely even keep them open anymore. "Mommy…" He tried to sit up but he didn't get anywhere. He was slipping into unconsciousness and there was absolutely no stopping it. "Love you…" His eyes finally closed and he passed all the way out, not knowing that Mindy adjusted his blankets and kissed the side of his head before taking away anything he could use to off himself when he woke up and then going downstairs to wait for James.

…

James made a very very fast trip to home, then White Castle and then the video store, breaking quite a few traffic laws in the process of being gone for no more than ten minutes. He honestly was not crazy about spending the night at Cooper's house just so he wouldn't go and try to off himself again. It just seemed ridiculous and counter productive to him. But Mindy was convinced she had to baby-sit him and so he would stay too because she was not spending an entire night in a house alone with Cooper. Absolutely, positively no way. James didn't even care if Cooper was passed out the entire time. It was just not happening and that was that.

When he pulled back into the driveway, he was greeted by the sight of Mindy happily bouncing out of the house. He barely got out of the car before she jumped all over him (not that he really even cared-he was perfectly fine with her tackling him). "Hi!" she chirped while planting kisses all over his face. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," he said, returning her kisses quite eagerly. "I've got our food and the movie."

"Good!" Mindy nipped at his lower lip playfully. "Cooper's in bed so we don't have to worry about him. His new TV is in the Bee-"

"How did the Bee get here?" James asked, knowing that the car hadn't been there when he had come the first time around."

Mindy shrugged. "I'm Mindy Lawson. I make things happen."

He chuckled and carried her, the food, the paints and movie into the house. "I'll hook it up after we eat," he promised.

"Good." She kissed him as he plopped down on the couch. If they were going to be eating and spending the night here, he planned on making a big old mess just out of spite. "He got it from some place….what was it…something about best…"

"Best Buy?" James guessed, his lips twitching in amusement. Despite living in America for all this time, Mindy was quite oblivious about some things. She had never stepped foot in a place like Best Buy and that probably was never ever going to change.

"Yes!" she said with an emphatic nod. "That's the place. I could have gotten him a kickass TV from Sony itself but no! He had to go to Best Buy and I don't even know what they sell there-"

"Electronic stuff mostly," James informed her. "He loves that fucking place. His computer, his camera, all his shit like that is from there. It's home of the fucking Geek Squad, that's what it is. I've always liked Walmart better just because I could get every fucking thing in one shot and not have to run fifty fucking places."

Mindy just stared at him blankly. "Walmart?"

"Yeah." James frowned as she continued to give him a blank look. "Baby Doll…" His eyes widened as he realized why she was giving him that look. "Baby Doll, do you not know what Walmart is?"

She shook her head. "Do they sell stuff for walls there?"

He snickered loudly despite himself at that, making her pout her lips and glare at him. "What?" she huffed. "Why is that funny?"

He kissed her and began rubbing her back with one of his hands. "I just think it's cute." He kissed her lightly on the lips and began rubbing her back with one of his hands. "They sell pretty much everything-"

"Do they have Gucci and Versace?"

"Well no…"

"Then they don't sell everything," Mindy concluded smugly.

He chuckled slightly. "Well most people who shop at Walmart can't afford Gucci and Versace," he pointed out. "It's more of a store for normal people."

She frowned and shook her head. "You're not normal though Jamie. You're rich. You've been rich for years and years you never had to go to a store like that."

"Yeah but I've never really cared about that," James said with a shrug. "I mean I've always liked having money because I've never had to worry about it but in all honesty, it's never really meant anything to me. It's just something I have, not something that defines who I am." He ran his hand through her hair. "You know how you had that goal to get me to gamble in a casino?"

"Yeah."

"Well I have a goal now. I'm going to get you into a Walmart at about one in the morning and we're going to ride around on the electric carts that are meant for the crippled people." That was actually something he, Natalya, Cooper and Connor had done a couple of times and it had thoroughly annoyed the employees because it had turned into a game of bumper cars but what was more important to him was the fact that it had been fun.

She raised her eyebrows at that. "Oh yeah? And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm your Jamie. When I have a will, I will find a way."

…

_Cooper was running. He didn't know where he was or where he was going, but he was running as hard and as fast as he could. It was so dark that he could barely see and he was sure that he was going to run into something. He didn't though; he tripped and fell a few times, scraping himself up even more but he didn't care. He just got back up to his feet and resumed his running. His heart was pounding a million miles a minute inside of his chest and he could barely breathe but still he ran. "Mom!" he gasped out, unwisely using some of the remaining oxygen in his lungs to cry out for help. "Mommy!"_

_There was no answer from Mindy. She was nowhere to be found. Nearly hysterical, Cooper blindly made a right and found absolutely no more ground to run on. He began to fall and fall and fall…_

Cooper woke back up and groaned, his head pounding horribly and his vision blurry from the sleep in his eyes. He tried to mumble some cuss words but everything came out completely incomprehensible. His stomach was lurching horribly on him and he quickly leaned over the bed and stuck his head in the nearby trash can, throwing up so violently that it felt like his lungs and intestines were going to come out too. "Ugh," he grunted, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. He spit one last time in the can and then rolled back over and passed out into his not so peaceful slumber.

…

"Jamie?" Mindy said after the movie was over.

"Yeah?" James said as he put the DVD in the case and turned off the player and the TV. They weren't going to need either one on anymore.

"I talked to Connor about the hen we're getting and then he asked me lots of weird questions about chickens and eggs and I tolded him that I would talk to you about it because I didn't know."

James winced. He knew where this was going and he didn't like it. This always made his brain hurt. "He asked you if the chicken or the egg came first didn't he?"

Mindy nodded. "Which is it Jamie?"

He shrugged and sat back down with her, eyeing the paints that had been recently found. "Nobody knows Baby Doll. I mean chickens come from eggs but eggs come from chickens. So it's like impossible to figure out which came first because they come from each other." He pulled her back into his lap and nuzzled her neck.

"So do I tell Connor that?" Mindy asked as she hugged James tightly.

"Nah. He wouldn't get it. Just say the word squirrel every time he asks from now on. That'll keep him nice and distracted."

She started to giggle but then she frowned. "What if that just makes him want a squirrel?"

James's eye twitched at the thought. Oh Lord, what if Connor did want a squirrel? Oxa would probably eat the thing and the tantrum Connor would throw immediately afterwards would be totally terrifying. "Let's not go there," he decided. "Let's talk about art class." He nodded at the paints that were sitting near by. I went back home and brought them with me just for us." He began kissing her throat, his hands wandering all over her body to make her forget that checking on Cooper probably wouldn't be a bad idea. The fact that they were even there at all was going to have to be enough.

"It is time for your lesson," Mindy agreed, gasping as James's hands teased her breasts. "But Cooper-"

"Is probably not even going to wake up until tomorrow afternoon," James said. "Believe me, I've seen the idiot plastered. If you think it takes an army to get him up on a sober day, try doing it when he gets like that. Fucking impossible is what it is. Besides-" He stopped and gave her a nice, slow, sensuous kiss "we can't let him spoil all our fun."

She smiled as she kissed him back, already melting at his words. "Okay," she agreed. He was probably right about Cooper anyway. Once he passed out he didn't wake up for forever, so they had all the time in the world. "Let's paint."

James grinned and waited for her to wrap her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck before he got up and grabbed their paints and heading up to Cooper's spare bedroom. He kicked open the door with his foot and then kicked it shut once they were in the room, not caring about the damage he did to the door. "I'm going to put such pretty pictures on you Jamie," Mindy said as they eagerly kissed.

"Oh I don't doubt that," he said with a nod. He reluctantly put her down so he could take off his clothes and plop down on the bed. "So you don't have any restrictions" was his explanation for that.

She giggled and stuck her tongue between her teeth before taking off her own clothes. "So I don't get paint on them," she said as she straddled James's lap.

"We wouldn't want that," James agreed with a nod. He licked his lips and kept both of them on her as she began to paint on his chest and stomach. The paintbrush tickled his skin but he stayed as still as he possibly could. "What ya paintin'?"

"I thought I told you artists can't explain their paintings," Mindy said without looking up.

"Oh yeah." He licked his lips and watched her go, trying to be a good subject for as long as he could. He watched as she painted a heart on his chest and then she started like giving him wings and shit and he didn't know what that was all about. But she looked so cute because she was concentrating so hard that he couldn't just do nothing about it. Both of his hands began to knead her breast, making her pout her lips at him.

"You're distracting me."

"I know," he said deviously. He moved his head up and began working her breasts with his mouth while one of his hands moved down and began rubbing the area between her legs.

"Oh fuck," Mindy whimpered, dropping the paint and the brush as she desperately began to rock against his hand. He grinned triumphantly and slipped one of his fingers inside of her and not waiting too long before slipping two more fingers into her. He really didn't need to do any work at all. She was already rocking her hips and riding the long, thick digits. He could feel his cock hardening at the sight of her but he was too hypnotized by her to do anything but watch as she came to orgasm, giving him quite the idea.

"Well then…" He removed his fingers and licked them clean before rolling them over so he was on top. "I think for my art project…" he began to kiss his way down her body "I'm going to see how much I can make you scream…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Esha Napoleon**: LOL Maybe. Those two could probably wake the dead if they wanted to. **EternalxInsanity**: You're welcome. Oh and yeah, suicide is just so bad. Poor Cooper : ( **NeroAnne**: Yeah, he's getting pretty bad, but this is nowhere near his rock bottom yet. As far as downward spirals go, his still has more of a way down. And unfortunately for him, with James in the house, help really won't be coming his way.

…

Frantic giggling from the room across the hall made Cooper groan and slam a pillow over his head, trying with everything in him to fall asleep but it was impossible. They wouldn't shut the fuck up in his brain. If they weren't right across the hall it may not have bothered him so, but they were out for fucking blood and at this rate were never shutting the fuck up.

…

"Jamie…!" Mindy held James's head between her legs and emitted a cross between a giggle and a sigh, going completely jello at his tongue's ministrations before weaving a hand on his hair.

He was so concentrated on making her happy he didn't even really take notice that despite how much he lapped at her she'd still shriek and press his lips to her wet center even harder while bucking into his mouth. James smiled under his breath but didn't stop making her happy. He knew she liked when he teased certain areas the most to help her orgasm along, so instead he quickly lapped the areas around them she and shrieked, almost breaking his nose she bucker her hips so hard as he brought her to orgasm once more.

"Jamie…!" she panted and grabbed his shoulders as he lapped her juices to pull his head up, "Jamie, Jamie, Jamie!"

Once he finished licking her clean his head went up and they kissed, Mindy giggling and running a hand down his face in a pant.

"That was good, baby!" she nodded encouragingly with a bright smile and they kissed, "You're so good at it, Jamie, I love you!"

Smiling gently while holding her face with one hand he kneaded a breast with the other so her tongue slipped into his willing mouth and they made out for as long as his completely hardened cock would allow.

"I love you, Jamie" she nodded while reaching for the red paint, squeezing a tube of it down the arch of his spine and James leapt about a foot in the air from how cold it was compared to the steam coming off his overheated body.

"Baby Doll, please…" his head dropped to the crook of her neck and he held her tight, Mindy knowing off the bat that he wanted to be inside her one way or the other. To help his point along he allowed his cock to rest at her center when Mindy quickly bucked her hips against it and right after he sucked a breath she took him in her hand. His breathing became erratic with each stroke of her hand and then both her tongue and fingertips teased the slit, "Fuck!"

"Not yet" she giggled before giving the tip a big wet kiss before keeping him in her hand and moving to the edge of the bed and motioning he stand up.

"Baby Doll?" he raised an eyebrow as her head flipped back over the bed and she took him in her mouth upside down. At first he didn't get it but the moment he began to move against her he felt a level of comfort beyond any normal means. He released a sharp growl watching her deep throat him and his hips moved wildly in and out of her, pulling out every now and then so she wouldn't gag to death. One of his hands pinched and teased her nipples while the other grabbed her paintbrush and dabbed it in purple, writing 'Baby Doll' and 'I love you' before making hearts everywhere and feeling himself about to break because the walls of her throat were so tight. "Come on, Baby Doll," he groaned while pumping his hips more desperately "finish me!" He watched her poor throat for a moment before running his fingers through her hair, "Please, Baby Doll, come on!" She was so perfect he never wanted her to stop, but the urge to help the process alone was there so he could move her onto the main attraction. "Baby Doll!" he was there he felt it, panting and exhaling her name as she gently brought him to orgasm. At first he was worried she'd choke, but he was so far down her throat that she actually pulled him out and frowned at not really getting to taste how happy she made him. "Oh my god, fuck…" he wanted as she flipped onto her paint, covered stomach and took him in her mouth more, casually stroking and licking his cock to keep him hard when he couldn't take it and gently wove both hands in her hair to ease her off.

"Jamie?" she frowned as they kissed and he leaned her down on her back before crawling over her and holding her hands so they could feel just how hard she'd made him.

"I love you" he kissed her and started letting her hands grasp him until he caught sight of how swollen she was and ready for him.

"I love you too" she nodded eagerly while leaning up to kiss him, "You're so perfect, Jamie, I love you."

He smiled gently and rubbed his nose against hers until his tip was completely probed against her wet center.

"I love you more" he took a hand of hers and squeezed it, truly bringing himself over by sliding inside the tight wetness and crying out loud as loud as he could make it.

…

"Why the fuck are you so tight?"

Cooper heard James's voice beyond any definition of loud and with every pump of his hips she was sighing like nothing he'd ever heard come from her.

"Jamie! Oh god, Jamie, yes!" a moment and her voice got even louder, "Fuck me harder, Jamie, yeah! Yeah!"

Cooper grunted and tried to keep falling asleep but the pillow over his head wasn't working. He still heard them louder than ever as James's thrusts got so powerful the entire bed was shaking and annoying him.

"Shut the fuck up…!" Cooper groaned before trying to sleep once more, but a loud gasp and hiss from James startled him right back up.

…

"Fuck, Baby Doll, you're tight!" he continued moving inside her little body and grabbing paint wherever he could to cover her. One breast was blue and the other was a shade of red, which he was mixing with his hands to make purple. With every movement of his hips he could see just how wet his shaft had gotten from being inside her and he growled even louder, making her moan and sigh at him before thinking about what she wanted to cover his cock in before they took a shower to get rid of it.

Feeling himself coming close he flipped onto his back and tried to let her ride him until he came, but she didn't. She humped him for about thirty seconds before grabbing his hands and flipping them over once more so he could drive her home and make her scream his name so loud Cooper wanted to axe them both to death so he could sleep.

…

"Mmm Jamie that was so perfect" she giggled as they kissed in the shower after making love against the wall. The entire shower was painted a rainbow now, but neither of them really gave a damn. He nipped the tip of her nose before pumping his hips into hers a few extra times to keep her happy.

"You're perfect" his teeth migrated to her throat and he continued adding to the hickey collection there as she clung to him tightly as she could with both legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he had her up against the wall.

"Mm" she shook her head and began to bite and nip his earlobe, "not as perfect as you"

"I love you" he kissed the new hickey on her throat before bringing his lips back to hers so they could keep kissing, "If I say you're perfect than that's exactly what you are"

"But I like when you are more perfect than me" she nodded and they kissed more, "You're so beautiful, Jamie darling"

He went to shake his head but they kissed until the water started stinging their eyes. Though she pulled back he kept placing the smallest, most sensual kisses all over her face and throat when she frowned and ran a finger down the slope of his nose.

"I don't think you are as bi as you think you are" that out of pure curiosity made him furrow his brow and look up at her, "I think you were confused."

"How so, Baby Doll?" he nuzzled her neck and kissed it, looking her in the eye to encourage her to continue, and she shrugged.

"You say you are bisexual, but you swing straight" she pointed out with a shrug, "Two out of three of your serious relationships have been with girls. You also have babies of your own and like making them"

He didn't say anything; he just let her continue with soft dark eyes.

"I think you are attracted to girls more than you are boys but you do not like to admit it"

"I love you" he pointed out with a frown, "I was attracted to you because you're beautiful and I love you-"

"Not at first" she reminded him with a shake of the head, "You did not love first"

"Yes I did" he said a bit sternly, convincing himself more than her, "I did, so stop that."

"But Jamie…" she sighed to get back on point, "I only think you are 'bi' because you're confused. You never had love from anybody ever…" she said in a small voice while rubbing her nose against his, "the only people who loved you were Mark and Sissy, so you thought since you could not get love from Mommy, you would get it from your best friend and your sister. You did not know what it was enough to know who you should feel it for and you did not know whether it was Mark that you really needed or Sissy, you thoughted you needed both. But you know now that you cannot love two people evenly at once, and all I ever heared was how if Sissy asked you would have left Mark for her in a heartbeat…"

"I left him for you, alright?" he leaned forwards and kissed her on the lips, "I left him for you…I love you, I left him for you"

"Because the type of love you NEED, and both Sissy and I can agree on this, cannot possibly come from a man. You need someone who really loves you unconditionally no matter what you do forever and ever, you need somebody who always has time and attention to give you, and somebody who loves your babies and wants a family with you…" she touched his face and giggled as he kissed her fingers, "The type of relationship you need a man can never give you because they are not sensitive enough…" her eyebrows rose pointedly, "Especially Mark."

"But-"

"He was your best friend, which as close enough proximity to make you actually fall in love with him because he gaved you attention nobody but Sissy did. I think Mark used you for sex, but that is just me" she shrugged, "If you could not do stuff anymore I dunno how long Mark woulda lasted."

"You think I'm compensating for Mom…?" he asked gently, not any ill feelings mixed in there.

"Yes" she nodded a bit before kissing the knuckles on his left hand where the white-gold wedding band sat, "You wanted her to love you so bad you look for what she was supposed to give you in others, and even if it is not there like it was with Mark, you disillusion yourself to believe it was there and that was what you needed"

"I see it in you"

"And that is because it is there, Jamie" she nodded and kissed him as hard as she could, "You don't see things only the way you want to anymore and I am very proud of you for that."

"So I wasn't perfect…" his eyes dropped dejectedly when she shook her head and gave his forehead a huge kiss.

"You were. You are. You always will be my perfect Jamie" she nodded with a kiss to your forehead, "You were in a bad place and I wanted to help you out"

"And do what Mom never did"

"Exactly" she poked his nose and giggled as he bit her finger, "Mommy should have helped you see the things in people as they are and not as you want them so be. She should have tolded you Mark was bad news no matter how good you thoughted he was and" she knew she shouldn't go there but frowned and rubbed the back of her neck, dropping her eyes, "For Connor's sake…You wouldn't have had a reason to be with Sissy."

He didn't say anything, but the way he was looking at her she knew he was begrudgingly agreeing.

"Did I make you mad?" she frowned when he shook his head and kissed her.

"I could never be mad at you" he shook his head and held her little body even tighter, running a hand through her sopping wet hair and kissing her, "And I see how you could be right"

"I am wrong" her eyes dropped when he shook his head and kissed her.

"You don't know that" he cooed gently and shook his head; "You don't know that at all…I don't even know" he shrugged and kissed her neck lovingly, "that means you very well could be right."

"I have something to talk to you about" her eyes got a bit dead before she looked up at him, "After we change the sheets I have to tell you something bad."

"Bad?" he frowned and looked her in the eye, "How bad?"

"Bad bad" she frowned and they kissed, "Too bad."

"I don't like that sound of that"

"You should not" she shook her head drearily and kissed the muscles on his shoulder.

…

After they stripped the bed and put new sheets on so they could sleep in it without being covered in paint, Mindy snuggled while lying on James's bare chest and he lifted her chin, the last conversation they had in the shower scaring the hell out of him.

"Talk to me…"

"You…" she twirled her hair worriedly and curled her lips in, "You have to promise not to get mad"

"How could I ever be mad at you?" he touched her face and shook his head, "I love you."

"But it's bad"

"How bad?" he cocked his head a bit playfully and she shook her head with pouted lips.

"BAD bad"

"Well I can't help you if you don't tell me-"

"I-might-have-had-a-lesbian-relationship-with-my-best-friend" that came out so fast her head went right in his chest and he just stared at her for a good five minutes, chopping that sentence up in his head and trying to think it over.

"Really?" now he was extremely interested, "Who? The blonde?"

She shook her head and kissed his fingers worriedly.

"Amy."

"Oh!" his eyes widened and the more he thought about it, the more he saw it, "And when was this?"

Her eyes got bigger than plates.

"You mean you're not MAD?"

"No!" he shook his head and stared at her with a wry smirk, "Why would I EVER be mad? I'm interested…"

They kissed and he reached a hand between her legs to gently caress the bare flesh. She still seemed uneasy, so he leaned up and kissed her into taking his cock in her hand and lightly stroking it.

"Because" she frowned and kissed him more, "I never tolded you"

"Why not?" he frowned, "I couldn't ever be angry with you, Baby Doll, nothing could make me angry or upset."

"Because I never TOLDED you, Jamie you telled me EVERYTHING but I did not tell you"

"Did you love her?" he raised an eyebrow and she shook her head. "Then what happened?"

"She was in love with me" Mindy raised her eyebrows and nodded, "And she was with Matt, but she liked to touch me and hold my hand and kiss me and finger me"

"Really now?" he was REALLY amused, "And what happened?"

"I went along with it" she shrugged, "I was twenty-two and I went along with it. I letted her touch me, and I kissed her back, and I touched her naked too"

"Did it turn you on?" his head went to her neck and she thought it over for a moment before nodding.

"Not the way YOU do, but yeah…" her eyes dropped and she nodded, "I was not in love with her,-"

"But you were curious" he shrugged, "It happens…it doesn't mean you love them or anything"

"I did not" she shook her head firmly, "I loved her as a friend, but we used to hook up lots and shower together and I liked it when she fingered me"

"But you didn't do it back, I'm guessing…?"

"Nope" she shook her head, "I touched her there but no inside, and you know how I feel about oral"

"Not from me" he grinned a bit cheekily as they kissed and he nipped her collarbone, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because it's gross and I hate it."

"What made it stop?"

"I'm not gay."

"I know you aren't" he responded gently, "but that doesn't mean you can't be curious"

"I sat in her lap and humped her"

"There's NOTHING wrong with that, Baby Doll" he wiped the frightened tears from her eyes and they kissed, "Stop worrying, alright? I know you're not bi, and I know you never were in love with her. You were a young horny celebrity and that's what happens"

"Yeah…" she nodded meekly when after some fumbling he impaled her and sat up so she could fuck him in his lap. The thought of her doing this with a woman was something he really liked to think about, but the fact that he was the one doing it with her for the rest of time he liked even more.

…

"Should I even bother making him breakfast?" Mindy asked from her spot sitting on the kitchen counter hand-feeding the crepe she made to James. Her legs were locked around his waist as they continued about their usual morning lovefest.

"No" James shook his head and kissed her forehead, "Why don't we go home, Baby Doll? We stood the entire night, didn't we?"

"I want to make sure he's up" she said calmly as they kissed and noticed it was past two in the afternoon. Their long night made them stay up quite late as well.

"I don't" James shook his head and let her feed him more before they kissed again, "I'll kill him if I see him."

"No you won't" she tapped his nose and they kissed, "You still don't think I'm weird right?"

"For what?" he raised an eyebrow and frowned, "Experimenting when you were a baby? No."

"You don't think I'm-"

"I only want my own hands on you" he responded with a huge kiss to her temple, "Everyone else can bite me, you're mine."

"That is why I could not tell you…"

"Baby Doll…" they kissed and he shook his head at her until they both heard stumbling down the steps and James's eyes widened, coiling his arms around Mindy purposely and tucking her chin under his head, "Hiya, fuckface!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: lol I agree and we all know James would readily agree too. He is that whipped to the beat of his Baby Doll XD **EternalxInsanity**: Het sex…honestly, I only got okay at it once I started writing all this with Vermi and once James and Mindy started like constantly humping each other. It gets easier to write once it keeps happening over and over and over again lol.

…

Cooper's eye twitched violently at James's words. He had the world's worst hangover at the moment and hadn't even gotten any real sleep the night before so he was feeling like complete and total shit at the moment and didn't need James adding to it right now.

"What's the matter fuckface?" James asked gleefully. He was just loving this. He was an obnoxious shit by nature, so any time he got to severely bug anyone he was not happy with was a good time to him. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night? I would have thought trying to do us all a favor and hurling yourself off a building would have tuckered you out."

Cooper tried to bite his tongue in order to keep his silence. He knew that James was just trying to bait him at the moment. A response was exactly what he wanted and he would be playing in James's hands if he reacted. As hard as he tried though, he couldn't keep quiet. Not only was he too tired and irritated to give as much of a shit as he should, it also just wasn't his way. He really was like James in that aspect. "What about you? At your age, having loud obnoxious sex all night is probably not-OW!" Mindy had just punched him in the chest and kicked him on the shin at the same time. "Mom!"

"No age jokes," she growled. "You are in BIG trouble with me you do NOT get to be a smartass right now!"

"Yeah!" James agreed. He was actually bouncing up and down like a little kid waiting to open his presents on Christmas morning. "Kick his ass Baby Doll! I'll hold him down while you do it."

"Dad!" Cooper said in exasperation, immediately taking a step back when he saw the cross look that came over James's face.

"Don't you "Dad" me," he said irritably. "I disowned you, remember?"

Cooper's gaze fell to the floor. He did know that and it hurt. It fucking hurt and what hurt more was that he knew it was all his fault. "I'm sorry…"

James just snorted in disbelief while Mindy shook her head. "Sorry? Sorry don't change what you tried to do! You were being STUPID and SELFISH-

"Mommy I didn't mean to!" he said, looking back up so he could give her a pleading look. "I was going to but then I got scared and I started to get down but then I slipped-"

"Well you wouldn't have slipped if you hadn't been up there in the first place!" Mindy shot back. She had slipped out of James's grip and was trying to really get into Cooper's face but James but kept pulling her back while watching Cooper with narrowed eyes. "You fucking CALL someone when you get like that, you hear me? Because if I EVER get a call like that from the cops again I will take Jamie's belt and whip you with it! Do you understand me?"

Cooper quickly nodded. He wasn't about to dare do anything but agree to what she said. He felt like complete shit for getting her so upset. That hadn't been his intentions at all. He had just been trying to make things easier. He fucking hated being so alone. Outside of Mindy and Connor, nobody gave a damn about him. They would all either be happy or not give a shit if he dropped dead. His own father and the rest of his siblings/cousins didn't even care anymore. He was dead to them and it was all his fault. "It won't Mommy. I promise it won't."

"I think he's lying Baby Doll," James said he hugged Mindy tightly and eyed Cooper like he had a disease or something. "You can't trust these rapists you know. Nothing good has ever come out of their word."

Cooper quickly looked away, trying to hide how those words got to him. He was never going to escape that fucking mistake. It was going to haunt him until the day he died and knowing his luck, it was probably going to haunt him beyond that.

Mindy looked back and forth between James and Cooper, her arms firmly around James's waist as she shook her head. "I haven't made you breakfast," she informed Cooper.

"It's okay," Cooper said, struggling to keep his voice normal now. It didn't really go so well for him though. James had gotten to him and he couldn't hide that. "I'm not hungry anyway."

Mindy's eyes narrowed. "We've been over this before Cooper. You CAN'T skip meals. You NEED to eat."

"Mom if I eat right now, I'm just going to throw it up," Cooper pointed out. The very thought of food was making his stomach rebel against him in the most violent manner possible. "I'll eat later, okay? I promise."

A wicked smile spread across James's face and Cooper knew he had fucked up somewhere just then. "You know Baby Doll…on second thought…I think we should actually make some breakfast before we go. We can take thick slabs of bacon and cook it buckets of grease-"

"Oh my God," Cooper groaned. He put his hand over his mouth and gagged. He could actually feel his whole face turning green. "I will throw up on you. I just want you to know that."

"And then we could take that grease and pour it on top of fuckface and-"

"Jamie Jamie Jamie," Mindy sighed as she got up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. "You're so silly." She looked back at Cooper and gave him a stern look. "We have to go back and check on our other babies now. You mister need to check in with me now on every day so I know you're not throwing yourself off buildings again."

"Momma I told you I slipped-" Cooper stopped and gave up when he saw the look Mindy was giving him. "Okay okay. I'll call and check in, I promise."

"They better fucking be short calls," James said crossly, kissing Mindy's cheek and giving Cooper the death glare. "You hear me? If I think for one second you're fucking playing her, there will be fucking hell to pay. We clear?"

Cooper nodded mutely and stepped aside so James and Mindy could leave. Mindy gave him a small wave as she passed by but he only could really nod because James was still glaring at him. When he heard the door slam shut behind them, he ran over to the sink and threw up, spewing pretty much everything that he had left in his system. _Fuck,_ he thought to himself as he finally forced himself to stop gagging so he could sink down to his knees and bury his face in his hands. His entire body was shaking and he couldn't make it stop. He wished Mindy was still there because he needed her now more than ever but he knew that wasn't about to happen any time soon. Not if James had anything to say about it. He was going to keep her away from him as much as possible and even though Cooper understood why he was doing so, that didn't mean he really liked it. Without her, he was completely and utterly alone-and he honestly did not know how much more of that he could take.

…

"We really shouldn't have left him alone like that," Mindy said as she held James's hand while he drove with the other one. They had just stopped at the store to buy giant marshmallows and now they were finally heading home. "What if he tries to hurt himself again?"

James just shrugged. "So what if he does?"

"Jamie that's not nice."

"Yeah well I'm not always nice." James kissed Mindy's hand and shook his head. "He's twenty eight Baby Doll. It's time for him to finally fucking learn how to live with the shit that he did. Just because he can't handle his own fucking emotions doesn't mean we need to try to make things easier from. We-especially you-are the last people that he deserves to have cutting him slack."

"He's so sad though," Mindy pointed out. She pouted her lips and sighed sadly. "He's very very sad and I don't want him to be sad, even if I'm very mad at him right now."

"I know Baby Doll, but what can we do? I'm not constantly babysitting him and you're not either. I don't trust him around you." He stopped at the stoplight and then leaned over to give her a kiss. He didn't want her thinking about Cooper anymore. He wasn't their responsibility. Not anymore. Cooper had destroyed that so now it was time for him to sink or swim on his own. "You know, our little tropical paradise has been done for awhile now. That means I'm going to have to teach you how to swim sooner or later."

Mindy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as that drove all thoughts of Cooper out of her head. "But Jamie I could drown," she pointed out.

"You wouldn't drown Baby Doll," he assured her. "Not only would I not allow that but you've got two awesome flotation devices right there." He ran his hand over her breasts and grinned cheekily. "They wouldn't let you drown even if you wanted to."

Mindy giggled softly and James kissed her, not giving a shit that the light had turned green and the people behind them were more than ready to get moving. "I have an idea," he said as he gently nuzzled her. "Later tonight, when the kids are in bed, you and I can go outside and have our own private swimming lessons. It'll just be the two of us and the stars above us. How does that sound?"

"It sounds so romantical Jamie," Mindy said happily. She kissed him and petted his face lovingly. "You're so smart Jamie. I love your ideas."

He grinned and gave her an Eskimo kiss before putting his foot on the gas and just about ran the light that was turning back to red. "I do come up with good ones sometimes, don't I?" He chuckled as she nodded quite eagerly and he kissed the back of her hand again as he put more pressure on the gas. He was definitely looking forward to their swimming lesson later and he was looking just as much forward to getting back and just being with their babies. He hadn't expected to be away from them all night so the sooner they got back to them, the better he would feel.

…

After Cooper cleaned up the sink and took out the garbage in his room, he left the house so he could pick up some hair color. He hadn't even bothered to look to see the mess that James and Mindy had made in their bedroom and the bathroom. He was actually kind of afraid too. Instead he put on the biggest pair of sunglasses he had and slipped on a hoodie and made sure the hood was as pulled on as it was going to get before leaving. It was nearly ninety degrees already and he felt uncomfortably hot inside of the hoodie but he ignored his discomfort because it was allowing him to hide. As it was, he already felt like he had a thousand eyes watching him. They were all staring holes into him, telling him silently that they not only knew every mistake he had ever made, but they were waiting for him to screw up again. He tried to tell himself he was being paranoid but he couldn't make himself stop. The feeling kept nagging at him and the more it nagged, the more he believed it was true. It definitely wasn't a pleasant feeling and he was glad when it went away somewhat once he got back to the house.

Once the dye was in his hair and he was waiting until he could rinse it out, he sat down in the chair and lazily flipped through the channels on the TV. He couldn't really find anything that he wanted to watch so he settled for some cheesy movie on the Syfy channel. It had something to do with a shark octopus thing that was killing people but he couldn't really get into it. It just made him sad because it reminded him of how he, Mindy, Jeff and James had an all day Syfy marathon that involved very weird and colorful commentary by James and a very physical popcorn fight between himself and Mindy. That hadn't been very long before Caroline had possessed James and just about killed them all. _She fucking started all this. If she had just stayed away, nothing would have happened the way it did._

His phone rang and he just went ahead and answered it without looking to see who it was. "Hello?"

"…You finally speak. It's about fucking time."

Cooper's face turned a Sheamus kind of pale. "Jeff?" he said, his voice actually squeaking as he cringed.

"Yeah, it's me," Jeff confirmed.

Cooper gulped, his mouth suddenly dryer than it had ever been before in his life. "What um…why are calling?"

"Oh gee, let me think…maybe it has something to do with you playing phone tag with me like a fucking stalker! And don't say it wasn't you because I know it was."

Cooper looked down at his lap and began compulsively playing with a loose string on his shirt. "Jeff I-"

"What the hell were you doing Cooper? Was this some kind of joke or something because I haven't been laughing."

"I just wanted to talk to you," Cooper said meekly.

"You wanted to talk so bad that you never said anything and you hung up on me every time? What kind of talking is that?"

"I didn't know what to say."

Jeff grunted and Cooper winced because he knew that the older man was really starting to get irritated. "Damn it Cooper, I can't do this. I really can't do this-"

"I miss you," Cooper finally confessed, knowing that he wasn't about to get a good reaction but he couldn't help it. It finally had to be said because he couldn't keep it locked inside anymore. It was driving him absolutely insane and making it so he didn't know what the fuck to do with himself.

Jeff went quiet at those words. Too quiet. Cooper could actually hear his heart beating in his chest and it made him want to scream because he felt so uneasy. "Jeff?" he said hesitantly. "Are you still there?"

More silence. Cooper was actually beginning to think Jeff had hung up without him realizing it when Jeff finally did speak up again. "I…I can't do this. I can't. I gotta go."

"Jeff-" Now there was the dial tone. Completely deflated, Cooper hung up his phone and tossed it aside. The movie was still going but he didn't even give it another look. He just trudged upstairs and threw himself down on his bed so he could pull his covers over his head and wish that the earth would just go ahead and swallow him whole so he wouldn't have to deal with anything ever again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: I feel bad for Cooper too. If he was anyone else I probably wouldn't but it is him…Jeff really can't be blamed for his anger and confusion but it's hard for Cooper too because how sorry he is don't seem to matter to many people at all. And if it don't mean anything to them, forgiveness and redemption are just beyond impossible. **EternalxInsanity**: lol I think my mom's seen that movie. She was just like "wtf am I watching?" And yeah Jeff just kind of freaked. Obviously he wasn't prepared to actually talk to Cooper, even though he was the one that made the call.

…

"I don't know what to do" Mindy shrugged while scraping some of the bean dip she'd made out of chili, cheese, and sour cream, with her tortilla chip, "I honestly don't know what to fucking do."

She lifted her eyes to make contact with Tiffany and she shrugged once more as Tiffany snagged a chip out of the bowl and scraped some of the homemade dip out as well.

"I dunno, Loo-loo," Tiffany sighed while clamping a hand in her long blonde hair and hugging Tryg around the waist as he sat on one of the kitchen countertops next to where she was leaning and Mindy was sitting Indian-style directly over the bowl. "I don't know what to tell you, the guy fucking raped you"

"He's my son" Mindy's voice dipped bitterly and she shook her head at Tiffany, "I'm all he fucking has"

"Do you realize…" Tiffany dipped her chip once more and licked a manicured finger, "that you're defending the guy who had sex with you against your will with an iron-clad fist?"

"Taryn…!" Mindy's voice cracked and she shook her head with a scowl, "That's my son!"

"STEP-son…" Tiffany reminded her gently with raised eyebrows, "The guy is exactly your age, Loo!"

"And he DIDN'T mean to hurt me!"

"You don't know that!" Tiffany shouted for her best friend's own defense before taking Mindy's little face in her hand and frowning, "What if he hurt you? What if he took it too far and killed you? He's a BIG MAN, Loo-loo-"

"And he would NEVER hurt me like that!"

"I don't think so, Mommy" Tryg shook his head and munched on a chip covered in dip, "And I like your secret dip recipe"

"Thank you, Tryggy" Mindy smiled fondly and kissed his forehead before draping an arm over Tiffany's shoulder and frowning, "I can't leave him"

"Yes…" Tiffany's eyes widened and she nodded, "you can. Think of Jamester, alright? Look how badly he was hurt by all this, and you're going to slap him in the face by condoning-"

"I'm not condoning SHIT, Taryn! That boy is more important to me than any fucking thing outside of my husband!"

"And your HUSBAND wants him dead"

"SO I just let him die for something he's sorry for?"

"Oh please, Loo!" Tiffany waved it off and shook her head, "he's the thief who's very sorry not because he stole, but because he got caught!"

"And he's SORRY"

"What has he done to earn a place back in this household?"

"Can I have his room, Mommy?" Tryg asked innocently when Mindy giggled and shook her head.

"Ask your Daddy" she ran her fingers through the blonde faux-hawk Cooper had given Trygger and frowned, "You know he always has the best answers."

"Yes, Mommy" he gave her a big kiss and snuggled with her before jumping off the counter and leaving the two young women alone. Tiffany snapped her fingers in Mindy's face and made the raven-haired young woman's attention switch back to her.

"I'm SERIOUS, Loo-loo! You can NOT let him just waltz back in here after what he did to your Jamester, alright? That's YOUR James he mindfucked"

"And MY BODY he literally fucked! And my body forgave him! God knows I've washed him out by now with how many times I've been all up in my Jamie"

"But that night doesn't HAUNT you at all?"

"He's my son…"

"You don't think back on it and cringe?"

"I do not think back on it at all."

"Loo!"

"No."

"Oh, come on! What if Jamester knew you felt this way"

"He does"

"Then you're just letting Cooper win" she nodded stiffly when Mindy hugged her neck and frowned.

"No civil war in my house"

"But LOO!"

"No. Cooper's my boy and I love him. Jamie is my life and I love him the most. He knows what I would do for him I love him so fucking much"

"Then respect his best wishes and-"

"Let him kill my son? No. Not on my life"

"But WHY, Loo?" Tiffany's palms slapped the counter lightly and she whined, "Why, why, why? He's an ASSHOLE"

"MY asshole who is trying to fucking kill himself when I LOVE HIM and don't want anything to happen to him! Connor!" she had watched Connor walk by with Spike and Snoopy before perking and waving him over quickly, giggling as he happily bounced over towards her with his beloved pets.

"Yes, Mommy?" he jumped on the counter right next to her and snuggled under her chin when he noticed the bean dip there and brightened, "Oooo!"

"Chips are right here, champ" Tiffany dragged the bowl over a bit and watched his face light up.

"Is this the secret special dip?" he asked excitedly of the dip Mindy only made during football and hockey season. She was a mega-fan of both the Tennessee Titans (even though they sucked) and the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team. When either a Titans or Maple Leafs game was on, nobody was allowed to even enter the room unless they planned not to make a sound. James had gotten very good during game time not to talk, but she made the dip which was the main point of Connor's excitement.

"Yes!" she nodded with a bright smile and kissed his cheek, "but I made two…" she watched Tiffany roll her eyes before dragging her little finger towards the microwave where Connor noticed she had a second bowl of the special dip with saran wrap over it.

"Is that for us, Mommy?" Connor's eyes got big when Mindy shook her head and kissed his hair.

"I'm plannin' on bringin' all that shit to Cooper's house later, or maybe you can do it for me because Daddy is giving me swimming lessons tonight"

"Sureee he is…!" Tiffany elbowed Mindy and shook her head with a snort, causing Mindy to stick her tongue out and gaze lovingly at her wedding bands.

"I promised him a romantic swimming lesson under the stars-"

"Which will result in graphic and unrestrained sex all inside the shallow end and hot tub"

"If he teaches me well enough we'll hit up the deep end too" Mindy gave her a wink and kissed the top of Connor's head as his tongue went out in disgust, "Don't worry…I have a special job for you tonight, Connor."

"Really?" he perked and hugged her tightly, "What is it, Mommy, huh? What is it?"

"Cooper tried to kill himself last night forever" Mindy nodded sternly as his eyes got big from fright, "Yes…bad…I know…that is why once I drop you off at his house with dinner I want you to sleep over and try to make him as HAPPY as you can, got it?"

"YES, Mommy!" he nodded eagerly and kissed her, "I can do that, Mommy! I can! Coopy will be so happy to see me!"

"He will" Mindy nodded and motioned to the stove with the already-made dinner from about half an hour ago, "and I maded Pastitsio for dinner-"

"Loo, you know I don't eat meat-"

"I spared the meat sauce on the side, darling" Mindy sighed and shook her head at Tiffany, "do not live with a Greek woman and deny her dinners!"

"But all you cook with is MEAT, Loo!"

"Most humans are omnivorous, Taryn" Mindy pointed out with a curt nod, "Just incase ya were wonderin'…"

"But always with MEAT?"

"It is my culture, bitch" Mindy said with a giggle, "I maded you a vegetarian one without the meat sauce and just the pasta with béchamel sauce."

"God, I love your cooking" Tiffany lifted the aluminum foil Mindy had over the freshly-baked dish to smell it when Mindy immediately smacked her hand before any scent got out.

"You can't do that!" she shook her head worriedly as if the sky would rain daggers, "My Jamie can smell dinner from halfway across the god damn house, he's a friggin' vulture like that!"

"What else is there, Mommy?" Connor noticed Mindy had a separate tray just for Cooper and Connor when Mindy pointed to the bread she had on the side with dipping sauce as well as loukoumades all in a dish with the shiny glaze of syrup and cinnamon they were doused with. "Ooo! Donuts!"

"GREEK donuts, Connor" Tiffany reminded him slyly, "Remember Mommy makes everything Greek"

"Oh shut the fuck up, you love my cooking ya bitch" Mindy kissed Connor again before hopping off the counter to gather everything for Cooper's house. "Why don't you go pack your things, Connor, and since Cooper's house is very messy I promise to watch Spike and Snoopy for the night until it gets cleaned."

Normally Connor would object to leaving his precious pets behind, but being Mindy was Dr. Doolittle and the chances to actually spend time with Cooper were few and far between these days he actually didn't complain. He did know she was going WAY out of her element to do everything she was doing for both him and his older brother because she loved them. The way she felt for James was no secret, so by openly defying him she was sending her older boys a pretty strong message concerning her love for the children who weren't even biologically hers. Technically she owed them nothing, but gave them everything.

…

Connor was in his room happily packing away for his night with Cooper when Amber appeared in the doorway looking quite cross with Fievel in her long thin arms.

"Where are YOU going?" she asked a bit sharply while watching her older brother scurry about.

"Coopy's house" Connor stopped packing and nodded curtly at her, "Why? Got a problem?"

"Actually" Amber's piercing blue eyes narrowed and she scowled, "I do. Just because Mommy lets you do it doesn't make it okay"

"Too bad YOU'RE not the boss of me" Connor stuck his tongue out at her and blew a raspberry, "Why don't you go play with Mommy's stupid OLD cat?" he snapped regarding Fievel in Amber's arms and the six-year-old wrinkled her nose regarding the black cat Mindy found in a ditch as a kitten when she was seventeen.

"Mommy's cat is the best" Amber kissed Fievel and rubbed the top of the old feline's head so it purred, "You just don't like cats."

"I don't like GIRLS" he shouted at her vehemently, "All girls are stupid sissies who pretend they know EVERYTHING"

"Well that's because girls are smarter" Amber leaned on the doorframe and rolled her eyes, "duh." Connor's snort was a good answer to that he figured. "Daddy's gonna kick your ass if you keep defending Cooper like this"

"He did nothing wrong, he's SORRY!"

"Sorry doesn't change that he raped Mommy."

"I don't CARE"

"Of course you don't…" Amber hissed before barring her teeth, "I think its really low of you to not listen to Daddy"

"He's WRONG, Amber! He's wrong, he is! You're just a stupid stuck-up know-it-all who-"

"Connor…" she shook her head and eyed him, "I have more brains in my finger than your whole body."

"That's because you're a NERD"

"Who actually wants to do something with my life? Yes" Amber nodded stiffly and pouted her plump lips, "Reading isn't bad, you know."

"NERD!" Connor shouted at her, "Nerd, nerd, nerd! Amber's a nerd, Amber's a nerd" he began to sing in a voice so annoying Amber balled her fists and buried her face in Fievel before storming away to find her father or mother.

…

"And then we can discuss what color we are going to have over HERE…" Thorn spread her arms across the length of the massively long walls of her and Scarlett's bedroom with James, Chelsea, and Elizabeth seated on the bed all looking way too engrossed by this.

"I think lime green will do" Scarlett nodded but then frowned, "Oh, but I like purple SO much better, Thorn!" she walked to the same wall and stared at it, "Daddy, what do you think?"

"I think you ladies should paint it whatever colors you please" James nodded with a smile while making sure Elizabeth could hold her bottle up on her own…but ended up feeding her anyway he was such a slave to the kid, "I'll have the men come in and make it however you want, you know that"

"Yes" Thorn grabbed Oxa by the shoulder and dragged the Serval towards James so they could kiss, "I love you, Daddy, thank you"

"I love you TOO, Daddy!" Scarlett insisted upon kissing him as well and crawling into his lap next to Elizabeth and Chelsea.

"And I love you ladies"

"Are you REALLY teaching Mommy how to swim tonight?" Thorn giggled loudly until James nodded, making the twins exchange glances and laugh, "Good LUCK!"

"He's gonna need it" Scarlett nodded with wide eyes when Tryg entered the room and made the girls all light up to see him.

"Tryggy!" they all squealed and smothered their little brother in the doorway when Chelsea just waved and looked up at James to make sure he approved, and he nodded with a kiss to the top of her head as Tryg crawled right into his lap.

"Hey, Daddy…" he was already sounding whiny, which made James smile a bit and Eskimo kiss him.

"Hey, what?" he smirked and bumped his forehead against Tryg's.

"Since Coopy's dead can I have his room?"

James laughed for a moment at the first part of the sentence before kissing his forehead.

"Ask your mother"

Tryg growled in frustration before shaking his head with clenched teeth.

"Mommy…made me…ask YOU!"

"And I want you to ask your mother again" James nodded coyly while watching the boy stomp off until he was swept off the ground by Mindy, who entered the bedroom with a smile and received her daughters before leaning and kissing James as lovingly as she could.

"I'm bringin' Connor to Cooper's for sleepover just to make sure Cooper does not try to off himself again" she knew he was overly uncomfortable so she leaned her head down and they kissed until he nodded and nuzzled her.

"Hurry back and I want a call from him in the morning"

"Yes, darling" she nodded and they kissed more much to the girls' delight. "I'm takin' him now if ya wanna get started on feedin' them dinner"

"Not until you get back" he shook his head and they kissed longer, "I'll just set the table now and wait"

"Fine" she nodded and they kissed, "I'm excited for tonight"

"I've had the heater on all day for you"

"Thank you, darling" she touched his face and licked the inside of his mouth before leaving.

…

Amber rode in the front seat (yes, it was illegal but Mindy didn't care) while Connor sat in the back with Cooper's dinner as she pulled in front of the house and stopped the car, knowing Connor had too much to carry in with only two hands.

"Wanna come out and say hi, Ambie?" Mindy asked gently while running her fingers through the child's long blonde hair, but Amber shook her head and simply watched Mindy hold Cooper's dinner while walking to the door with Connor and rang the bell.

Cooper answered, almost cried at the sight of everything, and once she handed him the trays of food Connor gave her a kiss before bounding inside the house. She scowled as Cooper placed the trays down on a counter before returning to the door and throwing his arms around Mindy, crying he was in so much mental anguish before shouting how sorry he was and for her to forgive him. She did of course, holding him back and accepting the apology.

Back in the good old days Cooper would have pressed her back to the wall and made out with her, but now he pressed her against the wall kicking and screaming for her to stay. It broke her heart to leave him, especially the way he kept crying for how much he loved and needed her to survive.

"Jeff called me, Mommy!" he shouted at her desperately to keep her attention and nodded, "He called me, Mommy and I didn't know what to say" he shook his tear-drenched head at her and sniffled, "Mommy, please, you have to help me I didn't know what to do anymore! I need you, Mommy, I do! I really need you, Mommy you HAVE to help me I'm so confused-"

"I want you to breathe" she told him before wiping his eyes and giving him a big kiss on the cheek, "I love you…but you can't be in a relationship right now" she shook her head at his pitiful state and frowned, "you ain't winnin' no one over until you calm down about everythin' and stop being Mr. Gloomy"

"But MOM" he clenched his fists in protest and kept his arms around her, crying harder than ever to make her stay, "I need you, you know I need you, Mom don't go PLEASE!"

"Cooper…" she pressed their forehead and kissed his, "I made you good Greek dinner" she responded in a spot-on Greek accent, "You eat my food and enjoy Connor. I am learning to swim tonight but will be back in the morning"

"Do let me guess…" Cooper rolled his eyes and went to rag on James when the icy glare Mindy gave him made him stop. "Have fun."

…

"So what's the deal here?" Mindy giggled while holding James's hand as they waded in the shallow end, "Are we skinny dipping? Or…?" James had heated the pool to the point that it was like a giant bathtub, which Mindy highly enjoyed. The whole backyard was literally turned into their little tropical paradise with exotic plants, birds, decorations, and even the pool was designed to look like a lagoon with a waterfall, a slide built into these giant twisted rocks, a huge high-dive disguised in the rocks, and a spillover hot tub into the actual pool.

"I would LIKE to!" James nodded hopefully while ogling her little pink bikini she had on. They were about three feet deep and he was already being held for dear life by her. "How do you feel about that?"

"Until I learn to swim" she said a bit deviously while hugging his waist and kissing his fingers, "You manage to teach me to swim I'm yours"

"Okay then…" he waited for a few pensive moments, staring into the deep end before literally picking her up and flinging her into the deepest part of the water so she was practically drowning, "Come here, Baby Doll!"

Already she was kicking and flailing, crying her little heart out and gagging up water when James quickly swam out to her side and treaded water right in front of her so she could see.

"Do it."

She was so busy gagging she couldn't answer him and started to slip, but the second James grabbed her waist she stopped flailing so much and actually kicked the water to stay up exactly as he was doing, which made him smile and nod.

"Good girl…" he nodded before jerking his head down to his legs mimicking hers, "You do this and move your arms along with it you're treading water"

"Like this?" nervously she released her hold on his wrists and started doing so, making James nod and kiss her before pulling her top off and releasing her body so she floated on her back.

"Gently move your arms to keep yourself up" he instructed while keeping her on her back, placing kisses along her breasts and sucking on her nipples until she literally twisted herself upright in the water and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, kissing him until he slipped from under her and disappeared.

Frowning she searched under her for him when her bikini bottom was ripped off and thrown out of the water with her top, James placing kisses between her legs from under the water and she convulsed, almost drowning herself when he came back up and allowed both arms and legs to wrap around his waist.

From her window Amber smiled gently while James dipped his head under and came back up to spit water in Mindy's face like a fountain. She giggled and they kissed as her fingers ran through his sopping wet hair and Amber took a moment to watch her arms wrap around his neck and her bare chest to press against his before zooming and snapping several pictures of them kissing in the water together that way. She loved her parents. She loved her parents together. Everything about them was just so fucking right she was working on an album of solely them to give to James at either Christmas or his birthday. Whichever came first she was making a little love album for him with all crazy collages and color schemes…Mindy had purchased a program called Picnik which Amber absolutely loved and went on all the time to enhance the pictures from her digital camera. Since she figured James didn't have that many pictures of him and Mindy (that weren't paparazzi ones) she decided to give him a lot by taking them when he wasn't (or was depending on the moment) looking.

"JAMIE!" Mindy laughed loudly as they kissed more and gently he swam with her on him to the edge, where he worked on kissing her breasts more before holding her hand and allowing her to pull his navy blue swim trunks off.

"See now…" he snickered upon kissing down her throat and preparing to make love to her, "I would make a comment regarding you being so perfectly wet for me…"

"I am" she inhaled sharply as he entered her, moaning and digging her nails into his back, "and I love you"

"I love YOU" he continued to kiss her before resting his face on her shoulder as his hips did all the work, "Look at that sky, Baby Doll…" he kept his eyes up while holding her more passionately, "its so beautiful, isn't it?"

"I think so too" she nodded while kissing his neck and grinding herself into him even harder, "I could stay here forever, Jamie…"

"Me too" he nodded and they kissed, "Nights like this I remember why I married you"

"I'm easy?" she giggled teasingly when he kissed her throat and shook his head, slowing down his pace to feel the change in her moaning.

"No" he denied quickly and shook his head, "Because we can do this forever and not be lame."

"I love stars…" she nodded with a sigh before kissing his fingers, "When we die, will we be stars too?"

He choked a moment before coiling his arms around her twice as tight and shivering, speaking into her shoulder trembling from a nameless fear, "Baby, we'll be whatever you want…" he squeezed his eyes shut to keep any tears back but the way he was buried in her shoulder she could feel his lips trembling, "Whatever you want to be, I'll be with you…and no one will take me away."


	11. Chapter 11

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **EternalxInsanity**: Aw, thank you : ) We really appreciate that you think so. **NeroAnne**: Yeah, unfortunately, she's one of the only ones and that would change if James or anyone else around her can do something about it.

…

"Looky Coopy, I brought movies with me," Connor said, proudly showing off the dvds he had packed with them as they ate. Cooper really wasn't hungry still but he ate anyway, knowing that if Connor told on him he was going to catch some serious hell from Mindy. Skipping meals in her eyes was a serious offense so it was just best if he ignored the knots in his stomach and ate everything that he could. "We can watch them if you wanna."

Cooper nodded along, not really even looking at what Connor had brought with him. He really wasn't in the mood to watch anything but if it would keep Connor appeased then he would go along with it.

Connor frowned, Cooper's indifference not lost on him for once. "We don't have to watch them if you don't want to Coopy. I want to do what makes you happy."

Cooper chewed his food carefully, kind of taken aback by that answer. Connor was definitely not known for trying to please others unless there was something in it for him. "It's fine Connor. We can watch your movies."

"But will that make you happy?" Connor asked impatiently. "I want you to be happy Coopy so you don't try to kill yourself again."

Damn it. Connor knew. He should have known right off the bat that was why Connor was acting so nice and stuff. There was no way Mindy wouldn't have told him. Connor was going to be her eyes since James was doing everything he could to keep her away from him. "Connor-"

"Why did you try to kill yourself Coopy?" Connor asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

Cooper shrugged. "I hate myself and I want to die."

Connor's eyes got even bigger. "But…but…I love you Coopy. Mommy loves you too. We don't want you to die." He got out of his seat and grabbed one of the donuts before plopping down on Cooper's lap and trying to shove the donut in his mouth. "We want you to be happy. We don't want you to be sad. Please don't be sad because then I'm gonna cry."

"You don't think I haven't tried not being sad?" Cooper asked, pushing the donut away because he didn't feel like eating it at the moment. "Believe me, if I could make myself stop, I would. It's not that easy."

Connor frowned and put his arms around Cooper's neck, hugging him so tightly that it actually kind of hurt. "Please don't try to kill yourself again Coopy. I love you. I do I do."

"I know-"

"You can't go away on me. Don't listen to Daddy and Amber and all the other dummies because they're mean. They're mean and you can't die because you'll let them win and they can't win because they're mean!" Connor was near tears now and he rested his head against Cooper's shoulder while still clinging to Cooper for dear life.

"Connor-"

"You don't have a gun again, do you Coopy?" Connor asked fearfully. "I remember when you got all sad and stuff after Joie died and I caught you with the gun. I gots a big boo boo from that and I didn't like it."

Cooper winced, officially feeling even more like shit than he did before as that memory came back to him. Connor had walked in trying to shoot himself after Joie had died and had tried to get the gun from them. A struggle ensued and the gun had gone off, resulting in a bullet being buried in Connor's shoulder. Cooper had been so horrified and Connor had been so traumatized that both of them sort of just tried to repress the fact that had ever happened (and James went along with it because he just hadn't been able to deal with that shit properly either). "I don't have a gun," he said slowly.

"You're not going to buy one right?"

Cooper shook his head. The thought sounded kind of tempting but he wasn't about to dare say that to Connor.

"You promise?" Connor moved his head back up so he could make eye contact with Cooper. "You wouldn't lie to me would you Coopy? Lying isn't nice you know. That's a mean thing to do."

"I'm not lying," Cooper assured Connor, moving his hands up so he could loosen Connor's grip on him. "I'm not a mean liar. Now will you relax?"

"Will that make you happy?"

Cooper sighed loudly and nodded. "Yes. That would make me very happy."

"Okay Coopy." Connor got off of Cooper's lap and sat back down in his chair. "Coopy can I ask you something?" he asked once he began to eat again.

"Yeah sure, I guess so," Cooper said with a shrug.

"If I stapled Amber's mouth shut, do you think Mommy and Daddy would get mad?"

Cooper's eyes just about popped out of his head. "Connor! Don't even THINK about doing something like that!"

"But she's mean!" Connor whined, folding his arms over his chest and pouting his lips. "I don't like her. She's the worse one out of all the girls."

"The girls aren't bad Connor-"

"Yes they are! They think I'm stupid. Especially Amber. She's the meanest one of all." Connor was not about to be convinced otherwise on this. "She's like all the other mean peoples who maded fun of me when I was in school except I can't smash her face in to shut her up."

Cooper shook his head while leaning over and slapping Connor upside the head. "You're damn right you can't. And if I even suspect that you're even having thoughts like that, I'll kick your ass. You hear me?"

"Why do you even care? She hates you now anyway. She's like Daddy you know."

Cooper didn't say anything to that. What the hell could he say? It wasn't like Connor was wrong about that. Once upon a time he and Amber had been insanely close, but once again, his own obsession and stupidity had ruined that relationship to. She hated him for what he did to Mindy and didn't want anything to do with him.

Connor sighed and tried to force feed Cooper a donut again. "I'm sorry Coopy. I didn't mean to talk about stupid girls. You want to go hunting to make you feel better?"

Cooper took a reluctant bite of the donut and shrugged. "Sure. I guess so." Who knows, maybe that would at least maybe take his mind off things. "We can go after we watch one of your movies."

Connor brightened right up at that. "Really Connor? Can we watch Monsters Inc? I want to watch it cuz I haven't seen it since yesterday and that's a really really long time."

Cooper tried not to cringe at Connor's suggestion. The movie had been okay the first time he had seen it but over the years, Connor had made him sit through it at least a thousand times so he pretty much knew the whole thing by heart. "Yeah sure," he reluctantly agreed. "That's fine. Whatever you want Connor."

…

James was woken up only a couple hours asleep after he and Mindy by someone crawling on his chest. At first he thought he was dreaming but then he felt something wet on his face and he finally opened his eyes to find Elizabeth sitting on him, her face just inches away from his. "Lizzie Bear?"

Elizabeth cooed and continued to slobber all over him. He smiled and carefully sat up so he could wipe his face off and hug his youngest child carefully. "Why are you awake silly? Don't you know night time is for sleeping?"

"Da da da," Elizabeth said, clapping her hands together before putting her head against his chest and closing her eyes. He smiled and stared down at her with a loving gaze, his fingers gently playing with her blonde hair. Words could not accurately describe just how much he adored her. He loved and adored all of his children of course; they all had him by the heartstrings and they all knew it. But Elizabeth was the baby. She was his little baby and that was the way it was always going to be, even once she started getting older.

He began to lay back down when the door opened and Scarlett and Thorn came into the room holding hands. "Bad dream?" he guessed before they could say a word.

They both nodded at the same time. "We don't like bad dreams," Thorn said as she and Scarlett climbed up on to the bed with him and Mindy. "They're scary."

"It's okay, I'll protect you," James promised, grinning as he watched Oxa jump up on the bed and curl up on his ankles.

"Thank you Daddy," Scarlett said, clinging to him while Thorn curled up with the still sound asleep Mindy. "How did the swimming lessons go?"

"I think we made excellent progress," he replied, making the twins giggle loudly.

"That's good Daddy," Thorn said with a nod. "Mommy should have learned to swim ages ago. Once she gets real good she can actually swim with all of us."

"Exactly," James agreed, reaching over and gently touching Mindy's long raven hair.

Scarlett smiled and cuddled up even closer to him. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Why does Connor still like Cooper so much?"

James blinked, a little taken off guard by that question. "Well-"

"Amber told Connor he shouldn't go to Cooper's house no more," Thorn informed him. "And he didn't like that. They don't like each other very much."

James shook his head, not really surprised by that. Amber was way ahead of Connor in maturity despite being so much younger than she was. "Connor…" He took another deep breath in order to buy time to think about how to word this. "When his first mommy died, he got really attached to Cooper. And that's never gone away, even when they don't get along."

"But he has Mommy now," Scarlett pointed out. "And he acts like Cooper didn't do anything wrong when he did."

"I know," James said, not hiding his frustration over that. "But I don't know what to do to make him see things our way. He doesn't understand things the way the rest of us do."

"His brain is broken," Thorn said wisely.

"Now let's not go that far-"

"It is though!" Thorn insisted. "It don't work right like ours do. We're babies and we know that Cooper did a really really bad thing to Mommy."

"Connor sees what he wants to see," James said with a sigh. He would definitely know that because that was a trait Connor had gotten from him. "I'll try to talk to him again when he comes home." He patted them both on the head and pulled the covers up so they were more properly covered up. "Now go to sleep, okay? I'll keep the bad dreams away."

"Okay Daddy," they said at the same time. They both closed their eyes and he watched them until he was sure they were sound asleep before settling back down himself and passed back out.

…

Cooper sucked on the cigarette like his life depended on as he and Connor walked along the quiet streets. Hunting with Connor was always a somewhat difficult task because of Connor's excitable nature. But luckily Connor wasn't being nearly as difficult as usual because he was still on his kick of making Cooper happy so he didn't try to kill himself again. And Cooper would be lying if he said that he wasn't taking advantage of it just a little bit. He wasn't trying to do it in a bad way. It was just nice having Connor not be difficult for once.

"Do you see anyone yet Coopy?" Connor asked as he bounced along. "Do you see 'em? Huh huh? Do you see 'em?"

"You're going to scare them away if you keep talking so loud," Cooper said with a shake of his head.

Connor immediately shut up but he kept bouncing around like he was on a sugar high. Cooper grabbed his hand to keep him from bouncing too far and led him into an alley, where he saw two drunk hobos staggering around in front of them. He put his finger up to his lips and signaled for Connor to stay quiet while they made their move. Connor grinned and took out his knife, following Cooper's lead and tip toeing up to the two men. The men were having some sort of conversation but neither Lawson paid any attention to it. They just continued to creep behind them, waiting until they were right on them before striking. Cooper grabbed the first man and put his hand over his mouth before driving his knife through his back, twisting it and enjoying the fear and the pain he was able to cause. Connor went for a more violent approach, stabbing his guy in the neck and then doing it over and over again, drenching himself in the blood. Cooper pulled his knife out and then slit his victim's throat so he could watch Connor, becoming hypnotized by the sight of his younger brother covered in all that blood.

"Coopy look, he's dying!" Connor proclaimed happily. The guy was actually already dead but Connor hadn't really caught on yet. "Lookie what I did! I-" He squeaked as Cooper suddenly pushed him up against the nearest building and pinned him there so he couldn't move. "Coopy?"

Cooper didn't say anything. He just buried his face in Connor's neck, licking up some of the blood that had gotten on there. He could feel Connor's heart beating and he pressed himself up against his brother even more, needing the contact more than he could really express.

"Coopy?" Connor said again. "Are you okay?"

Cooper stayed quiet for another moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah." He glanced back at the bodies. "Come on. Let's get rid of these and then go home so you can get cleaned up."

"Okay Coopy, whatever you say."


	12. Chapter 12

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **EternalxInsanity**: LOL glad you enjoyed it : ) **FortheLoveofWrestling**: In their defense, they're around the age Connor acts. Amber's six (although she's off the charts smart) and Thorn and Scarlett are only five…a clash between them and Connor is inevitable, especially considering the different stances they have on the Cooper situation. **NeroAnne**: Yeah, Connor is determined to make Cooper happy again. It's a job that'll definitely be easier said than done though, that's for sure.

…

The next morning Mindy was quickly heading down the front walkway to Cooper's house with Elizabeth on her arm when the door swung open and she was grabbed into the house.

"WAHH!" she yelped at first until her back was slammed against the wall and she whimpered, clinging to the startled Elizabeth and gently bouncing her when the frightened wild blue eyes of Cooper caught hers. By the look on his face he looked like he'd just been caught murdering a bus of children. "Cooper?"

Elizabeth started wailing and quickly shoving Cooper away from the frightened infant Mindy scowled and looked about for Connor while pressing her lips to her baby's face and gently whispering to her.

"Momma!" he grabbed her arm yet again frantically when she barred her teeth and slapped it away as the baby continued to cry.

"STOP IT!" she had no idea how fierce that sounded, and just how much she scared the hell out of Cooper. Immediately he nodded and fiddled with his hands nervously as Mindy pulled a bottle out of her Louis Vuitton handbag and kissed her daughter before handing it to her, and eventually Elizabeth's piercing wailing ceased.

"Sorry, Momma! I really am," Cooper panicked while staring at the state he'd put both his mother and little sister, "I'm so sorry, please-"

"Lizzie Bear?" that made Connor come careening around a bend and skid to a stop right in front of Mindy and Elizabeth, "Awww man!" he wrinkled his nose and looked to Mindy standing there with his sister, "We're going NOW?"

"Mhm" she nodded while moving his hair out of his face and kissing him, "Did you have a fun time with Bub?"

"We went hunting, Mommy!" Connor bounced and grinned at Cooper while hugging her arm, "We did, we did!"

"DID you?" she pouted her lips in interest and looked to Cooper, who silently nodded and Mindy grinned, giving Elizabeth and Connor a kiss while nodding, "You knife 'em?"

"Mhmm" Connor nodded while hugging her arm and snuggling into her hair, "Coopy was silly and licked my neck" the very way Cooper's face turned pale and Mindy's expression faltered let Cooper know what deep shit Connor had just gotten him into.

"Did he…" she curled her lips in and nodded a bit before kissing Connor and smiling gently, "Did you boys eat dinner?"

"Yes, Momma" they both nodded and Mindy nodded along with that before motioning to Tatyana waiting outside for them.

"Both a' you get inside I want fucking Denny's and I'm going to slaughter someone if I do not get it"

"Me too?" Cooper pointed to himself as Connor nodded and bounded towards the trunk with the keys while Mindy simply took his hand and kissed it.

"No. You just get to sit there and watch me, Connor, and Lizzie Bear eat everything"

"But what about Daddy?"

"I maded Daddy pancakes and writed him a love letter in Polish so he can spend the morning figuring it out"

"Does he-"

"I telled him I was takin' Connor and Lizzie Bear out to breakfast. He has to take the girls and Tryg to school and then wait for Ambie's tutor to come over since her school is in Beverly Hills and not here."

"So Dad's day is pretty light…"

"Umm…" Mindy curled her lips in and shook her head, "Chelsea has therapy and then Ambie has ballet later"

"Jesus Christ I forgot everyone does all that shit"

"School?" Mindy raised an eyebrow and poked her tongue between her teeth, "The babies only go for three hours and Ambie's tutor comes and goes."

"And Dad does this all himself?" Cooper raised a disbelieving eyebrow and Mindy nodded with pouted lips.

"Come and stop thinking so much" they held hands and down towards the car they went, Mindy laughing loudly at Connor's ability to fit himself inside her trunk and pop out the moment she tried to check on him. Cooper debated laughing as well when Mindy's free arm wrapped around his waist and she kissed his side.

…

"Bub…" Mindy frowned upon noticing Cooper wasn't touching his food and continued munching on a piece of bacon which came with her meal, "what's botherin' you?"

"Momma…" checking around him nervously and slouching in his seat, Cooper cringed, "I'm really sorry I…"

"What?" she checked Connor eating his Grand Slam while trying to talk to Elizabeth in Mindy's lap, who was literally sticking her hands in the grits that came with Mindy's meal and feeding herself. Mindy was trying to get a little spoon in there and see if the baby liked it, but Elizabeth was so content testing all the mushy food herself while Cooper was brooding while staring at Connor that Mindy had to channel her attention. "Bub!" she snapped her fingers in front of Cooper's face and frowned, "eat your fucking food or I'll never talk to you ever again and cry forever."

Wordlessly Cooper forced himself to eat and kept his left hand clenching Mindy's right, turning almost green when Mindy simply read his mind and leaned over to kiss the side of his face and hug him close.

"I love you, asshole" she cooed a bit hoarsely while nuzzling his neck, "My bestest friend, god I hate you."

"I love you…" Cooper croaked while staring into his plate.

"Why did you lick Connor's neck?" she watched his face contort once more and she pressed further, "That had t' do with why you frightened my baby, didn't it?"

"Mom…" he rubbed the back of his neck and squeezed her hand in his, "I didn't know what came over me I pressed him to a wall, I-"

"Incest is wrong" she said plainly, "Do you have any idea what Daddy will do to you if he finds you touching Connor that way?"

"Coming from the king of incest-"

"Hey!" she pointed at him sternly and shook her head, "Leave my husband's name out of this and listen to me…and listen to me good" she pointed at Connor quickly and shook her head, "NO. Absolutely fucking not, are you INSANE? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Mum mum!" Elizabeth slammed her hands to the table and looked up, smiling and kissing her mother on the lips before Mindy wiped her mouth with a napkin and giggled.

"My silly Lizzie Bear!" she kissed the baby's fingers while running her fingers through the blonde hair, "My beautiful silly Lizzie Bear!"

"Momma, I need him!" Cooper begged her when Mindy shook her head and stared at Connor gravely for a moment before switching back her attention.

"No" she shook her head and took a deep breath, "You have no idea what Daddy will do to you for this, Cooper! Fucking ME was enough, don't you think?"

"But Mom-"

"You…" her voice got harsher, "are NOT capable of being in a relationship right now"

"I'm fucking human, Mommy-"

"So fucking jack off if you need to!" her lips curled from fright and she shook her head, "You get fucking caught for touching him Daddy will NEVER forgive me for letting him come see you"

"Oh please, Momma, Dad's fucking obsessed with you he wouldn't miss an opportunity to jump your bones"

SLAP!

Her hands shook for a moment after she did that and Cooper was shivering from astonishment, so she took a deep breath and let her lips quiver before pulling his head under her chin and just holding him.

"I'm sorry" she creaked, though Cooper didn't want her to apologize.

"I deserved it"

"No"

"Yes" he nodded when she shook her head and they cuddled at the table, Elizabeth looking at Cooper with a wrinkled little nose before both blowing a raspberry and throwing her bottle directly at his nose.

"BA!" she shouted as it made contact and Mindy's hands covered her mouth as Cooper shrieked in pain.

…

"_I feel you, Johanna. I feel you…" _Amber sang in her classically trained soprano voice while holding hands with James as they crossed the street to go to the Starbucks across from the dance studio she, Thorn, and Scarlett attended so they could get snacks like they always did.

He hated coffee and Mindy lost a taste for it too due to the bone marrow transplant that made them two of the same person, but regardless James was ordering something for himself and Amber as usual. She wore her tights, leotard, eighties leg warmers, and knit Ugg boots while clunking alongside James. She wore her lengthy blonde hair in a slick bun during ballet lessons and even the way she carried herself afterwards was just so unbelievably sophisticated and graceful it was enviable. James typically stuck around and watched her dance through the large glass viewing window because he liked to. His baby was talented and he knew how much it meant to her to have him there. Mindy used to often sit and watch every single lesson of hers, and she still would have if not for the baby, but Amber was a good sport about it.

"Mommy's really been working with you, hasn't she?" James squeezed her hand tighter and noticed the way she was squinting in the desert sun, so he removed his sunglasses and gave them to her so she could wear.

"Thank you, Daddy" she kissed his hand as James gave the trailing paparazzi the evil eye before opening the door to Starbucks for him and his oldest daughter. "And yes" she breathed in the aroma of coffee before squinting at the menu and giving James's arm a hug, "an hour a day we sing together."

"I know you do…" he smirked gently while crouching low and tickling her ribs, "it's what takes away from MY Mommy time…!"

"DADDY!" she squirmed she was laughing so hard before hugging his neck and giving him a big huge kiss on the lips, "You ALWAYS have Mommy time"

"I do…" he grinned cheekily and nuzzled her blonde head, "don't I?"

"Yes" Amber nodded while pointing out the caramel macchiato she usually got and it actually seemed like a pretty good idea even though he hated coffee. Baby Doll had turned him on to Starbucks…plus Amber loved it too. "I don't mind though" she shook her head at his dubious look, "Really…" she furrowed her brow, "I don't."

"Then you'll understand how much it hurts to see Mommy still love he-who-shall-not-be-named in such a manner…" he stood and remained uncharacteristically expressionless, making Amber kiss his fingers and sigh.

"She's stubborn, Daddy" she gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he tried to get on the back of the line and decide what he wanted to drink at the same time, "She's just like you."

"I don't love rapists"

"Mark raped Mommy" James spine twitched uncomfortably at that before shaking his head coldly.

"I left him. It's always been me and Mommy."

Amber nodded along with a soft smile before catching eyes with a yogurt and granola parfait and tugging on his shirt to draw his attention to it.

"What…?" pouting his lips he glanced down at her for a moment before following her eyes and smiling knowingly, "Go get it."

"Thank you, Daddy" Amber chirped and walked two steps towards the display of packaged food items in a doorless refrigerator. She grabbed one of strawberry yogurt with cinnamon granola and raspberries all sprinkled on top.

"Ooo" he stared at her item as she carried it over and the corners of his mouth twitched, "What else do they have over there?"

"They have Panini's if you want me to get one and have them make it for you right here"

"That sounds good, Ambie" he nodded while quickly glancing at the selection, but Amber already made his mind up for him.

"Santa Fe chicken is calling your name" Amber grabbed it and giggled, hugging his leg until he scooped her in his arms and they rubbed noses before kissing. Amber's arms lazily wrapped around his neck and she giggled while pressing her forehead to his and being nipped at by him. "I love you, Daddy" her eyes welled up for a second when he touched her face with one hand and began kissing her below her eyes to get any tears away, "You're the best Daddy in the whole world"

"I love you…" he cooed endearingly while cuddling her, "you know how I feel about you"

"Then you won't hate me because Connor does?" she still rubbed under her eyes and he frowned.

"What is this scorn between you and Connor-"

"He HATES me, Daddy!" she shouted and actually began to hyperventilate she was shaking so hard, "he hates me and makes fun of me and calls me names and thinks everybody is bad for not liking Cooper-"

"There is NOTHING WRONG with how you stand on that bastard, do you understand?" he raised both eyebrows at her and she nodded, "Good girl."

"But" she sniffled and frowned, "Can you make Connor stop being mean? Please? He doesn't listen to Mommy"

"And he doesn't listen to me either, pumpkin" he groaned before running a hand through his hair and sighing, "I'll see what I can do."

…

"Baby Doll!" the moment James walked back in the door with Amber in hand, Mindy was on her hands and knees playing with both Chelsea and Tryg; baby Elizabeth was asleep in her carrier.

"Jamie?" raising her head she giggled as Chelsea and Tryg's attention was caught as well.

"Daddy!" Chelsea cheered while running over, and with a fond grin James swept her off the ground and held her close before scooping Tryg as well and leaning down to kiss Mindy happily.

"I missed you" he nodded after only being gone for no longer than two hours, "I missed you, Baby Doll, I did"

"I missed you more, Jamie" she nodded eagerly while hugging him tightly, "Lizzie Bear made a projectile again today, darling!"

"Oh?" his lips twitched while glancing at the sleeping baby. Mindy released a girlish giggle before nodding.

"When I picked Connor up from Cooper's house she gotted mad I guess and WHAM!"

"Did he bleed?" James asked hopefully, pretty thoughts of Cooper's nose turning into a geyser running through his head.

"No…" Mindy shrugged before touching him reassuringly, "But he may very well be bruising"

"Where is he?" James furrowed his brow and looked about for Connor, "HEY! Stranger!"

"I think he is in his room with Snoopy and Spike" Mindy nodded a bit wisely, "He missed them a lot last night and they slept with Tryggy"

"Can I have Coopy's room?" Tryg asked Mindy gently, and she leaned in his ear and kissed it quickly.

"Ask Daddy"

"RAHHHHHHHHHH!" Tryg did a backflip out of James's arms and landed on his feet, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHH! RAHHHHHHHH!" he shrieked, kicking a couch and flailing his fists at nothing in particular before screaming and running away.

Wall-eyed, James and Mindy exchanged glances and tried with everything they had in them not to cry laughing.

"Anyway…" James cleared his throat and Mindy nodded along at him, "Where did you say Connor was again?"

"His room" she pointed upstairs and nodded, "And are you going with me tonight or am I leaving with Taryn?"

"Actually Loo-loo" Tiffany came into the kitchen with bows in her hair alongside Thorn and Scarlett, "Phil called he said he's taking you"

"But Meatball fucking hates rap" Mindy frowned and squeezed James's hand, "That's weird."

"I'll go with you" James stepped in immediately and nodded, "We'll go out to dinner afterwards"

"Twenty-four hour diners are my heart, Jamie you know that" Mindy giggled and nodded, "But if we go to dinner that means Meatball is coming with us he camed all the way out here from Chi-town"

"WHY?" he lamented when she shrugged and kissed his hand.

"Why not?"

"Baby Doll…" he groaned before leaning over and planting a kiss on her, "you'll be the death of me."

"You love it" she grabbed his butt and deepened the kiss before snuggling into his chest.

…

Connor's door opened and James entered to see Connor playing with his headless dolls on the floor and the pets sleeping on the bed.

"Connor…" he smiled gently and the boy looked up actually quite cheerfully.

"Hi Daddy"

"Hi…" Connor eyed him warily and watched him close the door behind him, "What is it?"

"How was last night?" he asked flatly, Connor telling off the bat by his tone that he was disinterested.

"Fine" Connor shrugged.

"Fine?" he raised both eyebrows and Connor nodded along apathetically.

"Fine."

"What'd you do?"

"Watched movies" by the way that Mommy was reacting to hunting before with Cooper, Connor realized something about that was very very wrong. She was angry; she was growling and slapping Cooper, and though he was occupied by Elizabeth's antics he could clearly hear Mommy and Cooper in a heated argument. It ended in the both of them holding the other for their life and crying, but everything between them seemed to turn out that way these days.

"That's it?" of course James wasn't convinced, but Connor nodded anyway.

"That's it."

"Why don't I believe you?" his eyes narrowed and Connor scowled at that, "I dunno" he shrugged, "You never believe me."

"That's not true"

"You believe AMBER over me and she's a stupid little LIAR!"

"Don't talk about your sister that way" he hissed and immediately shook his head.

"She's MEAN Daddy she is!"

"CONNOR!" James shouted at him and immediately Connor yelped like a kicked puppy,

"That's much better…" his eyes narrowed and he stalked towards him a bit, "Just because your sister sees things the sensible way doesn't make her a bad person"

"She hates my Coopy…" he pouted and scoffed the ground.

"So do I," James said sternly and shook his head at Connor, "and I want this shit to end. Your sister is your sister and nothing's going to change that"

"But-"

"It isn't just Amber though…" James reminded him while folding his arms across his chest, "all the girls AND your little partner in evil have been quite unhappy with your behavior recently"

"Because they're all just like YOU and HATE Coopy when he's sorry!"

"No he's not" James shook his head while eyeing Connor once more, "I resent you treating him like Christ's second coming when he betrayed your mother the way he did…"

"He's my brother, Daddy"

"Not anymore" James shook his head before scowling, "he may be your brother, but he'll never be my son" with that he walked out of the room leaving Connor to himself.

…

The lights dimmed down at the Mohegan Sun and the spotlight was only on Eminem as he began performing 'Space Bound' acapella to a bunch of screams when an unknown piano began to play in the background with occasional harp strums. It didn't seem like much to the sold-out audience at first because the only visible figure was Eminem carrying about the song as he normally would.

"_It's like an explosion everytime I hold ya wasn't joking when I told ya. Ya take my breath away; You're a supernova.. and I'm a_…"

The lights dropped on him and lit up a grand piano with a massive harp next to it where Mindy Stratus sat and immediately she carried the chorus to a round of screams beyond any definition of ear-shattering.

"_I'm a space bound rocket ship and your heart's the moon! And I'm aiming right at you…Right at you_…" she glanced out towards the audience and poked her tongue between her teeth excitedly, "_250 thousand miles on a clear night in June…! And I'm aiming right at you…Right at you…Right at you_…" her haunting voice faded and let Eminem pick back up for the second verse.

This was her first time ever appearing on stage since her marriage to James and needless to say she was beyond thrilled to be doing so. Eminem was a longtime friend and they were mutual fans of one another. James was watching and also setting something up in her dressing room which seemed pretty fishy to everyone, especially Phil. Phil had traveled all this way to be the one to babysit the beautiful creature in a low-cut silver strapless ball gown (she liked to wear those during performances). Her entire body was smeared in glitter courtesy of James, who was all-too fascinated by the sparkles and had a lot of fun applying it to her before the show.

"What the hell are you doing back there, Mr. Mindy Stratus?" Phil rolled his eyes at James moving about while watching Mindy onstage letting Eminem rap the verses before singing the chorus by herself. "Can't even watch his own wife perform…" he grumbled to himself while noticing that Mindy's eyes were curiously on the audience more often than usual as Eminem rolled into the bridge.

"_And I would've done anything for you…To show you how much I adored it's over now; it's too late to save our love. Just promise me you'll think of me every time you look up in the sky and see a star cause imam_-"

One last huge audience roar as Mindy carried the finishing chorus and slowly added her own little operatic twist to it.

"_I'm a space bound rocket ship and your heart's the moon...! And I'm aiming right at you…Right at you…250 thousand miles on a clear night in June! And I'm so lost without you…Without you…Without you_…" she let the song end and the lights snapped out everywhere as the audience screamed.

"Show your love for Mindy FUCKIN' Stratus!" Eminem's mic went out towards the audience and they all showed their appreciation for the tiny rockstar who stood and took a quite bow, waiting a couple moments before the 'Min-dy Stra-tus' chants broke out with stomps and claps until the lights all shut out.

A computerized sound began to play as Stratusfear raced onstage in the dark and Mindy's silver dress was shed to be a blood red strapless dress which had a slit all the way up her right thigh and high black hooker boots. Her band's cover for 'Before I'm Dead' by Kidney Thieves started go so the show could be closed out with her encore performance.

"_Moon hangs around…A blade over my head; Reminds me what to do before I'm dead. Night consumes light, And all I dread, Reminds me what to do before I'm dead_…" she swirled her shoulders a bit and smirked at the audience beyond shocked to see her on a stage when she caught sight up close of something kind of strange and she tried to ignore it for a moment not to fuck her performance over, "_The sun reclines, Eats my mind. Reminds me what to leave behind. Light eats night, And all I never said; Reminds me what to do before I'm…!_" the band really kicked in and she flipped her hair over her head while looking out at the audience, "_To see you! To touch you! To see you! To touch you_!"

Jeff and Matt Hardy were in the audience, which stunned her to say the least. Did they honestly fly all the way the fuck out to Las Vegas to see an Eminem concert? Or had the fact that she was going to be surprise appearing reached their ears? She didn't know, but admittedly it was strange. Matt had that usual look of disgust she'd grown so fond of while Jeff was honestly watching her.

"_Epochs fly, reminds me . What I hide, reminds me_…" she tried to keep her attention off them but from the side Phil knew something was wrong and already was looking out into the audience to see what scared her before scowling.

"It would be fucking tweedle stone and tweedle stoner" he rolled his eyes at the look he noticed Matt was giving her and would have gone out there to kick his ass himself if there weren't a gigantic stage separating them.

"_The desert skies, Cracks the spies. Reminds me what I never tried! The ocean wide salted red, Reminds me what to do before I'm…!"_

…

"JAMIE!" Mindy scurried backstage to be grabbed and swept in the air by James and they kissed to the point of most people's nausea when he placed a bouquet all different sorts of crazy flowers in her hand and a tiara on her head, which made her giggle madly and hug him as tightly as she could, "Thank you thank you THANK you!"

"You were wonderful" he put on his best pout and nodded endearingly, "Stole the entire show from the poor guy, but wonderful"

Mindy giggled and let him keep kissing her before he led her into her dressing room which was adorned with more flowers everywhere and platters upon platters of cookies and desserts.

"Oooo!" she looked to James in astonishment and they kissed, "Jamie I LOVE you!"

"We're still going to dinner too, remember that" he knew tradition was the twenty-four hour diner that night, but also knew Phil was going to be joining them which was nothing short of annoying. At least though he got to eat with her on his lap. Phil got to sit and watch.

"Mhm" Mindy nodded before feeding him a cookie and they kissed more, "THANK you, Jamie-darling I love you I really love you I do"

"I love you too" he smiled and they kissed, "You deserve it."

"You do" Phil wrapped an arm around Mindy's waist much to James's distaste and kissed her cheek. "Dude you were fucking awesome"

"THANK you, Meatsack"

"And just completely let me fade into the background, I get that" James nodded a bit nastily before pulling Mindy back under his arm and glaring territorially at Phil.

"Oh, Jamie!" she giggled and hugged him tight, "You be nice to Meatball he's comin' to dinner with us"

"He's ALWAYS with us…" James groaned and Mindy nodded with a smile at Phil.

"He's my best friend, he's always with us!"

"No…!" James moaned when Phil nodded smugly and walked literally around James to stand beside Mindy.

"Looks like your little princess there has spoken"

"Oh no!" James shook his head and pulled out a separate tiara for Phil, "The only real princess here is YOU."


	13. Chapter 13

**Esha Napoleon**: lol Thank you **NeroAnne**: Oh yeah, he's definitely got a long way to go. And if he thinks things can't get worse for him well…he's definitely wrong *lets out evil laugh while evil music plays* **EternalxInsanity**: Given that she was molested by her father (which was very briefly mentioned in Savior), Mindy's view on incest is that it's not hot or right, no matter what the relationship is. Justifying it for siblings to her means it can easily be justified between parent and child, which does not go over well with her at all. **FortheLoveofWrestling**: You're right, everyone is entitled to feel how they feel. The problem is, Connor barely acknowledges that Cooper did anything wrong and if he does he acts like it doesn't matter. And James is so focused and obsessed with Mindy that he just don't want to hear any opinion that is different from his on the subject of Cooper. Cooper hurt his Baby Doll, there's no coming back from that in his eyes. Both of them have their points but neither can be reasoned with because James is stubborn and Connor is…well, he's Connor.

…

Connor sighed as he stared at his collection of G.I. Joes. He had been playing with them for quite awhile by himself and then he and Tryg had played with them together but now they were bored. Technically, Tryg was actually supposed to be in bed but he hadn't felt like sleeping so he had snuck out of his room so he and Connor could continue with their playing. "What should we do now Tryggy?" he asked. "I don't wanna play with these no more."

Tryg shrugged and hugged Snoopy, who began licking his face eagerly. "I don't know," he replied with a shrug. "If we're too loud Tiffany will just come up and tell us to go to bed."

"So we'll play a quiet game," Connor said with a firm nod. He pushed his dolls away and patted Spike on the head. "We could draw the pictures for our world domination death gun. That's quiet."

Tryg grinned and nodded eagerly. "Okay!" He grabbed the markers and the paper before sitting down across from Connor. "We have to make it a really big gun though. A world domination death gun can't be a small wimpy thing. It has to be big so we can get everyone properly."

Connor nodded along. "Of course. We're not going to build some stupid sissy gun. That's not allowed at all." He grabbed one of the markers and took off the cap, chewing on his lower lip as he thought about the best way to start the drawing. "We have to decide what we're making it out of. We need to make it nice and sturdy. We can't have it breaking on us."

"We'll find stuff," Tryg assured him. "We're good at this, we can find it and make it the best world domination death gun ever." He frowned and then gave Connor a curious look. "Has there ever been a world domination gun before?"

Connor slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, the world would have already been dominated if there was."

Tryg nodded, accepting that point as fact. "So what did you do with Cooper last night?" he asked innocently.

Connor frowned, not sure about how to answer that. Tryg was his friend so he didn't want to lie to him or anything. But he knew that Tryg didn't like Cooper and he didn't want to tell Tryg something that would make Tryg tell James something bad and get Cooper in trouble. "We watched Monsters Inc," Connor said, not lying about that because that happened. "I like that movie. Coopy doesn't like it as much because I make him watch it all the time but he watched it with me anyway."

"Oh." Tryg took his own piece of paper and began to draw on it. "Daddy doesn't like it when you go over there."

"So?" Connor said uncaringly. He honestly didn't know why this had to be such a big issue. If he wanted to see Cooper then he was going to see Cooper. And anyone who didn't like it just needed to get over it.

"You're going to make Daddy mad if you keep going over there," Tryg said gravely.

Connor just shrugged. "I'm not scared of Daddy. He can't stop me even if he wants to." That wasn't true at all and he knew it. James was way bigger than him so he could physically stop Connor from doing anything pretty much any time he felt like it. But Connor didn't like thinking about that because he didn't want to have to stop seeing Cooper.

"But what if Cooper hurts you like he hurt Mommy?" Tryg asked.

"Coopy wouldn't do that."

"How do you know? He hurt Mommy. He could hurt you if he wanted to."

Connor shook his head. Tryg didn't get it. Cooper wouldn't do that to him. "Nope. Coopy wouldn't do that."

"But how do you know?"

"Because I do." Connor wasn't about to waver on this. He didn't care what anyone else said. Cooper wouldn't do anything to him. Cooper was his big brother and he needed him because he was all sad because everyone else hated him.

Try looked far from convinced. "Nobody thought he would ever hurt Mommy but he did. Daddy won't ever forgive him no matter what."

"I don't care," Connor stated. "I'm not Daddy. I don't have to be like him." Connor stared down at his paper, not really in the mood to draw anymore. He missed Cooper very much. He hated the fact that his big brother wasn't around. All he wanted was for Cooper to come home but James wouldn't let that happen. Connor hated that but he couldn't really do much about it. There was not talking to James about this. All he could really do was just defy James and continue to see Cooper no matter what anyone else said.

Tryg pursed his lips together and let out a loud sigh. "I've been trying to get Cooper's room now that he's gone but it's not working. Mommy keeps telling me to ask Daddy and Daddy keeps telling me to ask Mommy."

Connor made a face. "Cooper and Daddy used to do that to me all the time. It's a very mean and nasty trick grown ups use when they like to be infidels."

"So what do I do?" Tryg asked. "How do I get what I want?"

Connor shrugged. "You gotta just take it Tryggy. Mommy and Daddy are just messing with you. But when Coopy comes back-"

"He won't. Daddy won't let him."

"But maybe he will and Coopy's gonna want his room back."

Tryg shook his head, deciding to just drop the subject because even he knew there was no arguing with Connor about this. Instead he decided to just do something else entirely. "Do you wanna watch cartoons? I haven't watched cartoons since forever." Forever was actually about two hours ago but that didn't mean much to the either of them. If it felt like forever, then it was forever and nobody could tell them differently.

…

"Thorn?" Scarlett said as she rolled over in her bed so she could face her twin.

"Yeah?" Thorn responded sleepily.

"When are Mommy and Daddy going to be home?"

Thorn shrugged. "I dunno. Hopefully soon. Why? Do you want to wait up for them?"

Scarlett nodded as she yawned. "Uh huh…" She rubbed her eyes with both of her fists, so tired but not really all that eager to sleep until James and Mindy returned home. "When do Mommy and Daddy going hunting again?"

"I don't know. I want to go though." Thorn petted Oxa on her head. "Amber and Connor get to go. It's no fair, we should get to go too."

Scarlett nodded. It wasn't so much the hunting that she wanted to do. It was more of just wanting more daddy time that she was after. Sure he spent a tremendous amount of time with them as it was, but she wanted even more than that. Daddy was Daddy and that was pretty much all there was to it.

"I got an idea about how to make Connor not a butthead," Thorn said suddenly.

Scarlett frowned. "I don't think that's possible."

"I know but we could try. I mean if he was smart instead of dumb then he wouldn't be so mean."

"But what if he doesn't want to be smart and nice?"

"Who cares what he wants? If he don't want to do it, we'll MAKE him be that way." She giggled deviously and kissed Oxa, who nuzzled her affectionately. In Thorn's mind, that was her pet approving of her plan and now absolutely nobody was going to stop her from going through with it.

…

"Why do I have to keep wearing this?" Phil whined as he followed James and Mindy into the diner. James had absolutely insisted that he continued to wear the damn tiara on his head and since Mindy was wrapped around his finger, she was making him do it too. "This is so stupid! I look ridiculous!"

"I think you look adorable," Mindy said with a smile. She waited until James sat down at the nearest table before plopping down on his lap. "You're a princess!"

"Princess Straightedge," James said with a snort.

"But I'm a dude!" Phil reminded them as he sat down across from them. "I can't be a princess if I'm a dude!"

"Sure you can," James shot back. "I said you were a princess now didn't I? And what I say goes, right Baby Doll?"

"Right!" Mindy agreed with an emphatic nod. "You should really listen to Jamie Meatball. He really is very smart."

Phil just rolled his eyes. Smart his ass. James was a fucking loon. Honestly, since day one he hadn't liked the guy. They had just rubbed each other the wrong way and it didn't help that James had taken away the only guy friend he had (that being Kane of course). His and Kane's bond had been an unspoken one and one that nobody understood. There was no bond like that with James. The man was vulgar, brash, obnoxious and a murderer but for some reason, Mindy and her kids absolutely adored him. Phil didn't understand it and he was sure he didn't even want to get it.

The waitress came over and not only took their order but got Mindy and James some crayons so they could draw on the tablecloth. "You really did an awesome job tonight Spaghetti," Phil said, trying to get her attention because he felt left out.

"I know," Mindy chirped. "You want to color with us Meatball?"

James frowned and put his hand over the crayons protectively. "He can get his own crayons."

Mindy pouted her lips. "It's good to share Jamie."

"But I don't wanna share. These are our crayons." James began kissing her neck and turning her into pudding in his arms. "He can get his own crayons."

"Mmm…okay," Mindy agreed, giggling as James nipped her skin and hugged her possessively.

Phil rolled his eyes at them. This was why he hated going anywhere with Mindy when James was around. He was freaking ridiculous with her. He didn't need to grope her like a horny teenager. "Get a room," he said under his breath, not intending for them to really hear him.

James did hear him though. And it annoyed him to no end. He had absolutely no idea what Mindy saw in Phil as a friend. The guy was not only annoying, but he was an idiot as well. Add in the fact that the guy totally wanted Mindy and would steal her if he ever got the chance and that made for someone James really did not care for. Shaking his head, James drew a purple heart and colored it in, making Mindy smile and kiss his cheek lovingly.

"You're getting better Jamie," she said encouragingly. "Maybe if we ever play Pictionary again we'll be able to tell what it is you're drawing."

"Ha ha ha, very funny Baby Doll," James said with a shake of his head. He gave her a kiss, one of hands innocently slipping under the table so he could begin to run his finger over her thigh.

Her eyes widened and she looked at him in shock. "Jamie-"

He silenced her with a kissing, internally smirking as she kissed him back and willingly opened her legs so he could slip his hand up her skirt and between her legs much easier. He moved her panties to the side and rubbed the area between her legs before slipping one finger inside of her and making her arch in pleasure.

Phil frowned and shook his head, deep down knowing what was going on but trying to deny it to himself. "Uh…Spaghetti-"

"So Princess," James said, continuing his ministrations on Mindy while giving Phil his most pleasant smile. "How's the whole wrestling thing going for you? How much have you been losing?"

Phil shook his head. "I don't really lose all that much. I'm actually good at what I do. Right Spaghetti?"

"Yes!" Mindy said, more excited about James slipping two more fingers into her and pumping them furiously. "So good." She was trying to keep her voice down but it was nearly impossible. James's fingers felt so good and she loved them so very much.

Phil's jaw dropped and his entire face turned red. "What are you doing?" he hissed at James. "You can't do that to her here!"

"Why not?" James asked with a smirk. "She likes it."

"You're degrading her!"

James's eyes narrowed. "I am not. If I thought for an instant I was making her feel that way, I wouldn't be doing this." He smirked again and shook his head. "You're just jealous that it's not you doing this." He turned his head and kissed her, swallowing any moans she let out as he finished her off. Phil looked down and tried to ignore it , actually almost ecstatic when he saw both Matt and Jeff walk into the place. He still hated the both of them but they were a welcome distraction at this point.

"Jeffrey Nero!" Mindy said excitedly. She got up to her feet and hugged him excitedly.

"You were awesome tonight," Jeff told her happily. "Really, it was amazing."

"Thank you," Mindy said, kissing his cheek affectionately. "Hi Matt."

"Mindy," Matt said, curtly nodded his head. Just the way he said her name made Phil want to get up and punch him in the face. It was no secret that the prick hated Mindy's guts even though she had done nothing wrong to him. Phil was actually going to say something, but James acted before he could. He got up to his feet and put his arm around Mindy, revealing just how huge he was.

"I don't think we've met," James said, grabbing Matt's hand and squeezing it really really hard. "I'm James Lawson, her husband." Just the way he said that sent all kinds of secret messages and pretty much warned Matt that if he ever took any kind of tone with her that he didn't like, there would be serious pain in his future.

Phil smirked at the expression on Matt's face. Maybe having James around didn't completely suck after all.


	14. Chapter 14

**Esha Napoleon**: There might be a few similarities. They would deny it of course. And yeah, Matt's so dead if he says the wrong thing to James. James don't play that game at all. **EternalxInsanity**: lol You're not the only one who's grown used to it. With that family, it seems to come with the territory. **NeroAnne**: I know! I just want to squeeze the both of them. Those cute little troublemakers… *shakes head* Jeff and Matt being added to the James/Mindy/Phil dinner equation is going to be quite interesting, I can guarantee that now.

…

"Why'd you retire?" Matt asked Mindy quite coldly from across the table, making Phil's spine twitch in all sorts of nasty ways and he really wanted to kill at the moment.

Jeff was seated next to James nervously since Mindy was in James's lap with one of his massive hands folded in hers as they picked at their food. They'd both ordered the same thing and were now feeding each other much to everyone's distaste.

Mindy pouted her lips a bit before dipping her fry in ketchup and munching on it.

"I didn't" she shrugged when Phil immediately stepped in for her so fast James's hate glare switched off of Matt and onto Phil. James knew Matt for a grand total of fifteen minutes and he despised him. Whatever he had against Mindy it was disgusting and making him more than eager to wring his neck.

"The release of her album's been suspended indefinitely" Phil retorted like any good librarian, "She'll put it out when she feels like it she's taking time to herself instead of spitting songs out and touring all over the god damn planet"

"No more" Mindy shook her head and held a finger up while dipping her spoon into the cheese of her French onion soup, "No more world tours ever again"

"So you say NOW" Phil reminded her gently with a point of his index finger, "Who knows what you'll say down the road, Spaghetti-monster, and-"

"Why are you wearing a tiara?" Jeff asked blindly while pointing at the top of Phil's head blindly. Phil blinked for a moment when James started sniggering loudly and Mindy pulled his head down to give him a happy kiss because he was just too adorable. Mindy had a prettier tiara on, Jeff noticed, "I gotta admit I'm a little jealous right now"

"Please…" Matt rolled his eyes and Mindy's brow furrowed angrily for Jeff, "that's all I need next. ..you cross-dressing"

"Dude!" Phil shot upright and shook his head at Matt, "I'm not a god damn fruit what the hell about 'her husband's a fuckin' psycho' don't you understand?"

"Damn straight, Princess!" James nodded curtly and narrowed his eyes at Matt, "Are you just jealous I've already found a whipping boy? Because I can always hold auditions for Princess Straightedge's understudy."

"Well" Mindy frowned despite Matt's fist clenching and she stroked James's chin before motioning to Jeff, "Jeffrey Nero practically lives with us-"

"NO!" Phil's sudden shout made all heads turn to him and the couple exchanged glances before snickering, "No! No! No! NO! Are you NUTS? You're putting the METHHEAD as my straightedge understudy?"

Jeff's head hung in a bit of a pout and Mindy reached over after wiping her oily hand (from the fries) on a napkin and held his.

"Well then who WOULD you like to take your place?" James offered with raised eyebrows, actually curious for an answer when Phil scowled and shook his head with his arms folded across his chest.

"My position's not available to understudies. There's nobody else with the willpower and intelligence to pull it off"

"The rest of us have nuts" Jeff nodded at his longtime rival before looking at a wide-eyed Mindy meekly and cringing, "Except you. You have a-"

"THANK you, Jeffrey Nero I think we have established I have massive boobs about twelve years ago" Mindy giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth.

"Hey!" Phil shouted when Jeff sighed and pointed to the tiara on Phil's head.

"You ARE wearing the crown…"

"HAH!" James was just eating this all up and Matt was rolling his eyes. What those four idiots found to be fucking hilarious to him was just annoying and repulsive. Mindy was flirting with three guys at once while his little brother was being insulted in a thousand ways by someone Matt wanted to just pummel.

"So I think you're kinda cute with short hair now, Meatball" Mindy nodded while reaching over the table and running her fingers through his short brown hair, which made his smile get so wide James was aiming a toothpick right at it.

"Really, Spaghetti?" Phil beamed and watched as she pulled an onion ring off his plate and started chewing on it before nodding.

"Yes, Meatball" she grinned and gently ran a hand down his cheek, making his heart thump out of his chest and everyone but Mindy knew it, "What do you think, Jeffrey Nero? Is his hair cuter short?"

Jeff gave his best long stare before wrinkling his nose and chewing his cheek, "I can still see his face."

"HEY!" Phil whined as James roared with laughter and smacked Jeff so hard on his back he almost choked on his chicken tender. "Sorry I don't shave like I'm auditioning for the Animorphs sequel and constantly have a glaze over my eyes like I woke up buried in hemp"

"Meatball!" Mindy gasped when James flicked the toothpick carelessly and Phil shrieked.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" he doubled over in pain holding his eye and nearly toppled Matt off the booth, which didn't go over well.

"Yo cut it the fuck out, man!" Matt grumbled and shoved Phil into the booth against the wall, which made the younger man yelp and James's foot nailed Matt right in the shin, "OW!"

"Hey!" James frowned and adjusted his grip on Mindy, "That's MY Princess!" he frowned and justified by slamming Phil into the wall himself, making Phil yelp even louder and curl into a ball from the pain. "Hands off the merchandise" he threw a fry at Phil and got it stuck between designs on the crown for good measure before nodding complacently, "Unless you have an insurance plan to replace him"

"Please" Matt rubbed his shin while shaking his head at James, "do you have ownership papers on him too?" he motioned to Phil, but that wasn't what made James see red, no…even Jeff's eyes widened worriedly and Phil stopped complaining…it was the insinuation that Mindy was some kind of dog.

"Dude!" Jeff's voice spiked and Phil physically shoved him off the bench.

"Fucking serious?" Phil stood up and James actually placed Mindy in Jeff's lap before practically falling over himself to get out of the booth, "Are you fucking serious right now, dick? Huh? You wanna fucking" he went to shove him when Matt was grabbed by the neck and literally slammed to a wall of the restaurant by James, making the younger man feel insanely small as James's eyes darkened tenfold and he growled.

"Wanna run your mouth again?"

"Jamie…!" off the booth she went and Mindy noticed the way James's hand was closing and immediately choking the life out of Matt in front of everyone. One of the waitresses went to call the police when Phil stood up and immediately explained how horrible it would look for Mindy Stratus to have her husband arrested for protecting her.

"I can't hear you, shithead" James hissed while using his forearm to choke the life out of Matt, "I asked you nicely if you want to run your mouth again?"

"Jamie!" Mindy tapped his elbow and shook her head worriedly, "No, please no"

"Why NOT?" James barked when Jeff linked arms with Mindy and tried to keep her a safe distance back, Jeff actually not mad at all considering the hell Matt had been putting him through lately.

He had no business here. He had no business talking about Mindy or treating Phil that way. In all fairness he didn't know who James was, but if he did he would know NEVER to go down this path with him. Of all the paths anyone could take, the Baby Doll one was just the biggest no-no in the history of worst things one could say to him.

"Because I asked you not to" she piped a bit and with greatest reluctance James released Matt's throat and ripped Mindy under his arm possessively. He didn't say a word, but he kissed Mindy's hand and headed back over towards the table with her, sitting down and cuddling her while watching Phil rejoin them and the two actually exchanged nods.

"I still dislike you" James reminded Phil before continuing eating, "And you have a fry in your crown, moron"

"What?" Phil frowned before Mindy giggled and leaned over the table, pulling the fry James threw at Phil from the crown and kissing the top of Phil's head before running a hand through his hair and eating the fry.

"Thanks, Meatball sub" Mindy gave him a loving smile before leaning forwards to give his head a kiss, "I love you." She took one of his hands in hers before craning her neck to James and the look she gave him told him everything he could have wanted to hear.

"Don't thank me" Phil squeezed her hand and shook his head at Matt, who was holding his throat and coughing while Jeff was obviously whispering words of pure hate at his older brother for causing a scene like that and not watching his mouth.

"Fucking serious?" Jeff snipped while motioning towards the table with his eyes, "Are you fucking serious, Matt?"

"I don't want you anywhere near that fucking family" Matt growled and shook his head at Jeff, "All three members of the Firefly family over there are fucking bad news, you understand me?" he warned his little brother with a finger in his face, "I'm so glad you're not fucking around with the rapist now I can't even begin to tell you"

Jeff made no response to that because he didn't care. Cooper was what he was.

"Why the hell are you getting involved with them? Seriously?" Matt motioned to the table where James took the cheese from Mindy's French onion soup and catapulted it with a spoon onto Phil's nose, making Mindy jump across the table and actually eat the cheese off Phil's nose as he freaked out from having it flung there in the first place.

"I do not think that was Kosher, Jamie" Mindy reminded him a bit wisely, "That may be why Meatballman did not eat it"

"Ohhh" Phil gave Mindy the finger and she giggled while sitting back in James's lap and stuck her tongue between her teeth, "Right here, Spaghetti" he nodded while holding his middle finger up higher when James nodded along with wide eyes.

"I think my dick was that long when I was twelve"

"HEY!" Phil's eyes widened and he covered his ears, completely scandalized, "Who said I was doing that? Who said I was EVER doin that? Why do I want to know that, James? Seriously? You're fucking disgusting! No one cares about your fucking prepubescent dick length!"

"I do!" Mindy chirped and James grinned while kissing her cheek and then her lips.

"I love you" James smirked as they kissed, knowing he was getting on Phil's nerves and loving it.

Phil was kind of an unofficial Lawson, so the way Matt was treating the official Lawson whipping boy wasn't settling at all with James, and though Mindy and Phil couldn't see James's eyes were fixed on Matt by the door the remainder of their time there.

…

"ALRIGHT, listen up!" Thorn slapped her Cinderella wand she got when Phil took her to Disneyland in Anaheim, California on an ornate wooden table and made Connor jump he was so startled sitting in the chair next to Oxa, who wore the authentic Cinderella costume Thorn wore for Halloween two years ago. Tryg was sitting with Snoopy in his lap on Scarlett's bed, quietly observing the lecture Connor was giving a bit satisfactorily.

Sure, he liked to annoy his sisters but that was his job as the baby brother. He didn't want Connor being mean to them because they disliked Cooper for hurting their mother.

"What if I don't wanna?" Connor instigated when Thorn growled and slapped his knuckles with her magic wand and it lit up upon making contact along with 'Bippity Boppity Boo' being sung from the wand. Tryg giggled and hugged Snoopy tighter while watching. "OW! That HURTS!"

"EX-actly!" Scarlett said while wearing James's fake reading glasses and one of his white button-down shirts with one of his dress ties over it. Her long blonde hair was tied in a studious ponytail via Amber and she held her chin awfully high, trying her best to make herself be as tall as she could. "That's why you're here!"

"I don't wanna be nice to you girls!" Connor yelled at them when Scarlett cleared her throat and snapped her neck to face her twin.

"Thorn" she said stiffly when the twin dressed as Ariel from the Little Mermaid slapped the light-up singing wand again and Connor shrieked.

"STOP IT! INDFIDELS!" he yelled at them when Scarlett reached up and pointed to a purple chalkboard which spelled 'MANARS' in bright pink chalk.

"Not until you learn to behave" she said snootily before continuing to pace about, "You've been acting like a big jerk and I don't like it! Daddy is protecting Mommy and US from the big bad rapist and YOU are breaking the law!"

Thorn nodded and exchanged glances with Tryg, who was dressed as Spiderman with the mask on and everything.

"You girls are the ones who are stupid listening to everything Daddy says-"

"HEY!" Scarlett shouted when Thorn swung the wand once more.

"OW!" Connor yelped and rubbed his knuckles as Scarlett set up a teapot and a stuffed gorilla with 'Daddy' written on a post-it note was sitting in a chair next to Connor.

"Now…" Scarlett tried once more and took a deep breath as Thorn poured the tea into the china cup, "Connor I would like you to pour Daddy some tea."

"Daddy?" Connor craned his neck and noticed Tryg's stuffed gorilla had 'Daddy' written on a note on it and Connor rolled his eyes, "Oh come on!"

"POUR IT!" Thorn went to whack him again when begrudgingly Connor lifted the pot and waited for Scarlett's cue.

"ASK Daddy if he would like some tea…" Scarlett gently ushered when Connor grumbled.

"Would you like some tea, Daddy?"

"WHAT?" Scarlett shouted in his ear and stamped her foot, "I can't hear you!"

"I SAID" Connor growled while looking at the gorilla, "Do you want tea?"

Tryg made a cone with his hands and replied in his normal raspy voice, "Yes."

"Good Tryggy" Scarlett beamed before making Thorn pour the cup for him and she giggled. Connor growled while starting to pour and Scarlett nodded satisfactorily, "Now ask Ambie if she would like some…"

There was a Barbie doll which was dressed an awful lot like Amber in the chair next to him and Connor punched it off the chair, making Scarlett, Thorn, and Tryg angry before slapping him repeatedly with magic wands and Tryg's glowing red lightsaber.

…

"Fuck…" Cooper ran a hand through his hair and cringed while wandering about the kitchen, staring at the cabinets as if food would just appear in them.

He had several items he could cook with and he did know how to cook alright, but only under Mindy's guidance. He watched Emeril and was able to make desserts at times without Mindy to surprise her but then again, it was cooking FOR her. He couldn't do a fucking thing in a kitchen without her. He couldn't do anything in general without her.

The concert tonight at Mohegan Sun had made Mindy unable to cook tonight and that meant Cooper had to fend for himself, which just sucked. He was too depressed to even feed himself without someone in the house eating with him. Even at his worst back in the day he'd eat around Connor, Jeff, or James, but now he was honestly fucking alone. The empty house was beyond disheartening for him as much as he liked to be by himself. He liked being alone if he knew someone else was around to at least go downstairs and see running around. Going from a house full of seven other children to completely nothing was beyond strange and frustrating to him.

There were no Webkinz stashed under his pillows, no play dough molded over his headphones, no parents hanging all over each other like lovestruck teenagers, no animals sprinting about or piano playing anywhere…it was depressing and made him highly uncomfortable.

Though mentally he didn't want to eat a thing, his stomach was killing him and he was beginning to feel a bit faint. When Mindy didn't come and feed him he decided to punish himself by not eating at all. She did feed him though, she fed him very well even though he didn't deserve it…he didn't deserve it but he wanted her to come over anyway. He wanted her to come and scream at him, hit him, push him, tell him how much she hated him. He had an unspeakable bond with his mother and it drove him insane not being with her even for thirty seconds.

He had to eat something, so he remembered how to cook spaghetti because Mindy had showed him how to do it at the point of nausea. It was the simplest thing to do in cooking and technically all he really had to do was boil water and he was golden. She would often make him boil the pasta while she went and cooked all the hard, complicated shit. He didn't know how to make sauce though, so he'd be stuck with fucking butter on his pasta like Chelsea would eat it.

A pot was put on the counter and Cooper took a deep breath while filling it about three-quarters of the way up with water, though he didn't remember if he was supposed to turn on the stove before or after he placed the pot down. On a whim he tried before and placed the pot down on the stove and the water droplets on the side fried up and made a sharp hissing sound.

"Shit!" he gasped and accidentally released the pot, causing a gust of flames from the stove to fly up because water was added before the rest of the pot came crashing down onto his foot, completely soaking his floor.

"Fuck…" he grabbed his foot and stared at the result of himself trying to learn to cook before running a hand through his hair and barring his teeth, trembling and turning off the stove immediately before trying to make himself clean up.

So much for eating. He took a deep breath and tossed the pot in the sink before grabbing paper towels to clean up his mess. He shivered and took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair even more before soaking up the water in his wet clothes and throwing the paper towels away, shaking his head at his own stupidity before wandering into his bedroom to peel his clothes off, lay on his bed, and curl into a ball he was such a fucking failure. That was a fucking message that he wasn't supposed to eat. Starving to death was a cruel death and he figured as long as Mindy wasn't forcing things down his throat he wouldn't eat anymore.

…

James and Mindy had brought their pet Princess Straightedge home with them actually on a leash. After he was sure the Hardy's had gone to their hotel and left them, James had gone to PetCo and bought a nice red leash for Phil since Mindy said that she always thought Phil was adorable in red. He also bought Phil a doggy bed and dog treats for when he was good.

"I'm so glad you let us keep my Meatball, Jamie" Mindy giggled while placing a kiss to Phil's cheek and running a hand over the top of the disgruntled man's head.

"Spaghetti!" Phil lamented while being tugged into the house by James from the leash, "This is torture! This isn't right!"

"Oh my god…" Tiffany covered a hand over her mouth from her spot in the kitchen on her laptop, "That is SO going on my Twitter!"

"Ohhh NO!" Phil whined when Tiffany snapped his picture and James happily placed the dog bed on the floor and forced Phil to sit in it, petting the top of his head before grabbing Mindy's butt and making her turn to face him in the middle of her conversation with Tiffany.

"Should I take him out before we go to bed, Baby Doll?" James furrowed his brow and unhooked the leash when Mindy pouted her lips and nodded much to Phil's horror.

"Spaghetti…" he panicked and shook his head, "no…!"

"Whatever you say, Baby Doll" he gave her a loving kiss before snuggling her and dragging Phil out of the house by his collar, "Let's go, Princess! If you piss on my kitchen tiles I'll have to redo the entire kitchen and call in the fumigation squad so my house is not contaminated"

"HEY!"

Mindy giggled and shook her head as Phil left the house with James and the women exchanged glances.

"So when's he getting you that hen?"

"When I teach him how to ride" Mindy replied with a bright smile, "We're gonna ride out to this farm that's got lots and lots a' chickens and I'ma get my fuzz-monster that I want!"

"Is he getting a coop?" Tiffany cringed before shrugging, "Or…?"

"No. He is going to live in my tropical paradise in the backyard with my lovely tropical birds"

"Their wings are all clipped, right?" Tiffany pouted her lips and Mindy nodded with wide eyes.

"Their wings are clipped and we have an electric strip on all their legs so they cannot leave the pool area"

"That is too cool" Tiffany giggled while looking out at a flamingo lounging near a shallow bird bath designed to look like a crazy mountain reflection pool, "Can I name him?"

"Sure" Mindy nodded, "I named the peacock"

"Ooo!" Tiffany giggled and smiled, waiting for Mindy's answer.

"Rotunda" Mindy nodded when Tiffany threw her head back and hugged Mindy's torso, completely dying she was laughing so hard.

"But it's a BOY!"

"He's a gay peacock" Mindy nodded while motioning to his tail, "Taste the mother fucking rainbow."

"I think it shits white" the complete point of what Mindy said clearly flew over her head and the raven-haired young woman slapped a palm to her face.

…

Once James brought the new pet back inside and made sure Phil stayed in the dog bed, he frowned once he noticed the empty house and started for the stairs to go up. But the door to his office swung open and he was ripped inside. The door was kicked shut behind him and Mindy jumped into the air while hooking her legs around his waist and slamming her lips to his, gliding her tongue in his willing mouth and grinding herself against him.

Immediately responding his hands found her body and roughly caressed her while rubbing between her legs and working her dress up over her head.

"Fuck, Jamie…" she sighed and worked on opening his jeans while they kissed, "I've been wanting to do this all fucking day"

"Me too" they kissed and he was hard enough to simply move his hips forwards and push inside her, making her gasp for air and hug under his arms as tightly as she could.

…

Hearing the heavy breathing from god knows what Phil scowled and shook his head at the sounds coming from James's office.

"Do let me guess…" he growled before deciding it was time for the straightedge puppy to be bad. Maybe it would make them stop.


	15. Chapter 15

**EternalxInsanity**: Yeah, he would have been better off being a good puppy *nods wisely* **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Yeah he did. *shakes head* He has no idea just how bad of an idea it was to go there but James will gladly teach him that lesson.

…

"Oh fuck Jamie," Mindy moaned as he pounded into her. She had her arms and legs wrapped tightly around her and she was bucking her hips in time with his thrusts while kissing every part of him she could reach with her lips. "So good Jamie."

James groaned and removed his mouth from her neck (which he had once again left a very long trail of hickeys). "Does my Baby Doll want me harder?" he asked, one of his hands going up to get tangled in her long hair. "Huh? Do you Baby Doll?"

Mindy nodded. "Yes," she said with a happy moan. "Oh yes Jamie please. Please please please fuck me harder."

James began to happily oblige. What kind of husband would he be if he didn't? But before he could oblige too much, the sound of a whole bunch of things crashing caught his and Mindy's attention. "What the fuck was that?" he asked as he turned his attention to the door.

Mindy shook her head. "I don't know." Her eyes got big and she was already starting to worry. "Do you think one of the babies got hurted or something?"

"I hope not," James replied. "But it better be them who did that because it is who I think it is, there will be a boatload of pain and trouble coming his way."

…

Phil continued knocking over anything and everything in his path, humming obnoxiously loud as he did so. He didn't give a shit what he was breaking. All he cared about was making as much noise as humanly possible. If he was going to be the dog, he was going to be the baddest dog in the planet and the biggest cockblocker on top of it. "Oooh what's in here," Phil asked himself as he opened the refrigerator door. He began going through everything, seeing if there was much of anything he even liked in there. "Oooh salsa…this will make a big mess." He threw the jar down to the floor, making the entire room smell like salsa. "Yummy." He grabbed a thing of mustard and began using it to draw on the walls, singing the beginning of Teenage Dream until he was grabbed by the back of the neck and yanked back violently. "OW!"

"What the FUCK do you think you're doing out here?" James asked angrily. He was wearing only his boxers and was in a very obvious state of sexual frustration. "BAD dog! BAD! We do not break things in this house! Well I mean sometimes we do but not you! Good doggies do NOT behave like this!"

"I'm NOT a dog you ass!" Phil growled, doing everything in his power to twist himself out of James's grip. It was no use. James's grip on him was way too tight and that meant he was completely trapped. And with that being trapped came being completely screwed, because James was really pissed, to say the least.

"Hey, who's got the leash and the doggy bed and the dog treats around here?"

"Snoopy!"

"And you! And you're my special bitch doggy so don't think you can get away with this shit!"

Phil reached up and tried to pry James's fingers off of him but that didn't work in any way whatsoever. In fact, it just annoyed James even more and the next thing Phil knew, his face was getting shoved up against the wall and rubbed all over the mustard. "Ack! What the fuck dude! Stop it, that's disgusting!"

"Hey, when dogs pee on the floor, they get their noses rubbed in it," James said with a smirk. "I know this isn't pee but it'll do in a pinch."

Phil screamed in pain and frustration and made an attempt to elbow James in the ribs. The attempt failed though because James easily caught his arm and then took him down to the ground so he could rub his face in the salsa. "Hey hey hey!" Phil screeched. "There's glass in that!"

"Your point being?" James asked indifferently.

"You can't rub my face in glass!"

"Why not?"

Phil groaned. There was no reasoning with this lunatic. "Spaghetti!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Spaghetti help me! Your psycho is trying to kill me!"

"No I'm not Baby Doll!" James yelled, giving Phil a good smack on the back of the head to keep him quiet. "I'm just teaching Princess Straightedge a lesson!" He forced the side of Phil's face down in the mess of salsa and glass and rubbed it around before yanking Phil back up and shoving him aside. "Now Princess-"

"I hate you!" Phil wailed as he tried to pick the broken pieces of glass out of his face. Some of the mustard and salsa had gotten on his lips and it made for a really nasty tasting combination. "You asshole, I'm never going to forgive you! Not ever!"

"Sure you will," James said cheekily.

"No I won't."

"Well if you don't I don't care. What I do care about is you cleaning up this mess so I can go back to enjoying my sex with Baby Doll."

"Your sex with Spaghetti is gross and wrong and disgusting and I will not stand for it!" Phil said defiantly.

"Oh yes you will," Mindy said, marching in wearing only James's shirt like it was a dress. Her eyes flashed to the mustard and they instantly narrowed. Mindy absolutely hated mustard. The only reason it was in the house at all was because Connor loved it and James occasionally liked it on his hot dogs. "Meatball! What the HELL is that?"

Phil's face paled while James snickered. "You're in trouble," the patriarch of the Lawson clan said gleefully. "You're going to get it cuz Baby Doll is going to kill you!"

Phil tried to swallow the gigantic lump that had formed in his throat. "Spaghetti-OW!" Mindy had just whacked him really hard upside the head. "Spaghetti I'm sorry!"

"Not yet you're not," Mindy said, the anger in her voice making Phil actually flinch and try to behind James's legs. "You're going to lick up that mustard-"

"Ew, no! Don't make me do that Spaghetti!"

"Hey! She said to do it, so you do it and don't question it!" James said, giving Phil an absolute death glare. "And when you're done licking that up, you're cleaning up the rest of your mess before you go into time out."

"Time out?" Phil couldn't help but whine at the thought of that. "Now come on-"

"No, you couldn't be a good doggy so you're paying the piper Meatball," Mindy growled, actually grabbing Phil by the back of his neck so she could drag him around. "Now if you don't stop being naughty and a cock blocker I'm going to spray you with the hose."

Phil whined some more at that, but then caved and licked the mustard off the wall before cleaning up the rest of his mess. There really was nothing else he could do but go along with their demands. James was psychotic and Mindy had him completely whipped, so his hands were tied. "You know, I could have sworn that I read somewhere that Hitler had relatives named Lawson…" He completely pulled that out of his ass but that got him a slap from both James and Mindy anyway. "OW! I'm calling the animal shelter and claiming abuse."

"The animal shelter don't cater to terrorists doggies," James replied. And even though she usually said something to him when he started in on the Phil being a terrorist thing, Mindy nodded her head in agreement. Phil had pulled the cock block so he was getting absolutely no sympathy at the moment. "Now we have to make sure you behave…" James's eyes widened as Connor came storming into the room. "Connor!"

"Baby what's wrong?" Mindy asked, noting the very upset look on his face.

"Manners are evil and I hate stupid babies," Connor replied. That really didn't explain anything to either James or Mindy but James decided that an explanation really wasn't necessary. He had a way of making Connor feel better really fast and stop Phil from doing any more cockblocking for the night.

"You want to take Phil to your room and beat him up?"

"NO!" Phil yelled, immediately trying to make a break for it. He didn't get far though. Connor quickly grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder. "Just don't break him too much," James said. "We still need him around to torment."

"I make no promises," Connor replied as he stomped away with the protesting Phil. Mindy watched them go, hugging James's waist and resting her head against his stomach.

"I think Meatball needs obedience school."

James snorted. "Princess Straightedge needs a good whipping, that's what he needs." He easily scooped Mindy back into his arms and began carrying her back towards his office. "The whipping can come later though. Right now, I think it's time for us to pick up where we left off."

Mindy grinned and gave him a big kiss. She couldn't agree more with that idea if she tried.

…

Cooper managed to doze for awhile but eventually the painful gnawing feeling in his stomach got the best of him and he had to get up. He couldn't just lie there and think about how hungry he was. He was going to cave in and eat when he didn't deserve to if he did. So he finally just got up and got dressed and left the house, opting for walking instead of taking off in the car. He didn't know where the hell he was going and he didn't really try to figure it out. He didn't want to think anymore. Thinking was bad. It helped to make him feel even more like shit than he already did and helped reinforce the fact that he wanted to curl up in a ball and die. This whole living bullshit was driving him insane. What was the point when he was totally alone? If he didn't die or if things didn't somehow get magically better, he was going to go absolutely insane from the loneliness. There was no getting around it. He was going to lose his mind although at this point, that almost seemed like a welcome alternative to the hell he was going through now.

He sighed and folded his arms over his chest, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground as he walked. There was nobody out to avoid eye contact with but he kept his gaze down anyway. He wanted to call Mindy and beg her to come meet him but he knew he couldn't do that. James was going to be with her and there was just no way she would be leaving him tonight. The two of them were attached by the hip (and usually other parts) and Cooper knew that was never going to change. No matter how much she loved him and he needed her, James was always going to come first in the end. And even though he understood it, Cooper didn't want that to be the case at the moment. He was drowning. Even with Mindy and Connor not hating him he was drowning. And he couldn't save himself. He didn't know how. He never had really learned how to do it. He had always relied on others to help him because he was always too fucked up to do it himself.

He rubbed the back of his neck and picked up the pace. If Mindy couldn't be there he at least wanted Connor with him. Connor was so utterly distracting and warm…Cooper knew he shouldn't be starting down that latter path but it was hard to resist these days. When he had licked Connor's neck he knew he shouldn't have done it. The incestuous relationship that had existed between the two of them for years had been doormat for a reason. Connor just wasn't a relationship person. Yes he needed sexual gratification on occasion (he was a grown man after all, even though his childlike mental and emotional states made everyone forget that) but he couldn't ever really give Cooper the things he needed. The love was there but Connor couldn't handle Cooper's issues the way they needed to be handled. Cooper needed someone to take care of him too. He couldn't just give and give and not get anything in return. He couldn't handle it.

But despite that, he felt like he needed Connor at the moment. He knew Connor would go along with it. He had done it before and it would be very easy to coax him into it. All he had to do-

_No,_ a voice in the back of his head said firmly. _Stop it. You can't go there. You know you can't so just stop it._

He sighed unhappily and continued to walk along, heading into a rather seedy neighborhood without realizing it. He was trying so hard to fight the urge to go get Connor that he didn't even care where he was going. It wasn't until he looked up and saw the drug dealers on the corners and the prostitutes walking around that he realized where he was. It didn't really faze him though. He used to haunt places like this when he was an addict. When he had run away back when he was a teenager, he had lived and breathed in this environment because he had nowhere else to go. He couldn't stay home because he couldn't deal with what he had lost. It was ironic how things stayed so much the same even after they changed. His world still had the ability to crash down around him just when things were perfect and he still couldn't deal. He was just running away and trying to never look back.

He eyed the drug dealers carefully, a very deep longing he hadn't felt in a long time rising back up inside of him and rearing its ugly head. They had an escape he so desperately needed and he wanted it again. He wanted it so bad that it hurt. _No,_ he told himself as he forced his body to turn around and walk back the way he came. _Mom will kill you if you did that. Just go and keep on going. Don't start that shit because you know you can't stop once you start._

He bit down on his lower lip and started walking as fast as he could. He could fight this. He had to. Mindy would kill him if he didn't and besides from that, dealers didn't take credit cards. If he wanted anything he was going to need cash. Cold hard cash.


	16. Chapter 16

**Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! **NeroAnne**: It is isn't it? It almost makes me want my own annoying straightedge puppy XD **EternalxInsanity**: lol Yeah that's a good way to sum it all up.

…

James and Mindy held hands while actually pushing Elizabeth in a stroller and leading Cotton by his halter and a lead line down the long lines of horses lined up exactly as Mindy's head P.A. had called and requested. They were horse-hunting for James, and Mindy had a specific list of things she wanted in her newest pet and she wanted everything to be perfect. They were at a specific breeder of Hanoverians and Dutch Warmbloods, which were some of the most pricy horse breeds in the world for their temperament, looks, and athletic ability.

As it was Mindy was a champion show jumper with Cotton, but Cotton was only 15.2 hands high and was really pushing the five-foot double and triple oxers Mindy was so fond of doing. Mindy could jump seven feet if the little Arabian could do it, but owning him for over eight years now, Mindy knew her ten-year-old white Arabian gelding better than to test his limits anymore.

She traveled all over the country back in the day to all the grand prix's and cups and pleated her hair into a signature French braid all down her back to hide her celebrity so the judging wouldn't be biased. Her show-name was 'Snow White' and her colors she often donned were black, silver, and purple. Cotton's pedigree show name was 'Prince Charming', and now not only was Mindy looking for a horse big enough to not be crushed by James but she wanted one big enough to handle the high-thrill maneuvers she was used to showing with.

"What about him?" Mindy pouted her lips and paused with Cotton in front of a 16.5 hand gelding which met Mindy's requirements she had her assistant call ahead and prepare the breeders with. She needed either a male or female no older than two years of age and at least 16.5 hands since James was so huge. Hanoverians ranged from 15.3 hands to 17.2 typically, but there were always exceptions.

Naturally the breeders went insane filtering through what they had and wanted only the best, most even-tempered candidates for Mindy Lawson's (she refused to do the typical Stratus-Lawson like her managers had suggested) new champion jumper.

"Hmm…" James sized up the chestnut with a white snip on his nose and reached out to touch it before craning his neck to Cotton, "What do you think, buddy?"

Since Mindy was pushing the stroller with the astounded Elizabeth actually trying to lean out and see the endless line of top-notch candidates in front of her, James was holding the purple lead line and stepped forwards with the horse that was about half a foot shorter than him. Cotton touched the gelding's nose with his own before snorting and stepping back.

"Nope" James shook his head and kissed the Arabian's nose, "Sorry, mister" he sighed and backed with Cotton before craning his neck to see how amazed Elizabeth was and grinned. "You see the ponies, Lizzie Bear?" he chuckled and made eye contact with Mindy lovingly, "You see the ponies?"

Elizabeth squealed and looked at them all; making Mindy giggle and walk alongside Cotton, but realized James was walking on the wrong side of the horse and frowned.

"Jamie!" she snapped her fingers and pointed beside her, reminding James that he was walking on the wrong side of the horse.

"Always on the left…" James grumbled at his own stupidity before halting Cotton and walking to the correct side to smile sheepishly at Mindy, "My apologies."

"Try the bay" Mindy motioned to a slightly larger bay mare further down the line and James furrowed his brow while smiling at Cotton.

"Let's find out…"

"She's very good" one of the breeders immediately chimed in to try and sell them the horse as James walked Cotton over, "sweetest and most even-tempered mare we have"

"Cotton?" James let the Arabian be the judge when there was a loud whinny and thunderous clapping from a nearby paddock, where all heads turned and barn hands were already sprinting in that direction shouting in Spanish at the other.

"Oh Christ…" the female breeder ran a hand over her hair pulled back in a low ponytail and shook her head, "Again?"

BOOM! Two powerful hind legs snapped the fence in half and both Mindy and James exchanged glances when a massive 17.5 hand monster blacker than coals burst through the sand bucking like a madman and tossing his head bigger than most medium-sized dogs angrily.

"OYE!" a Mexican farmhand shouted as a lunge whip was grabbed along with a chained lead rope by several other farmhands.

"Oh god, I'm sorry…" the breeder faced the couple before jogging towards the paddock worriedly, "I'll be right back, I'm so sorry!"

"Take your time…" Mindy watched James place his hand over Cotton's nose and actually lead the little Arabian a couple steps closer to the back hidden paddock which they happened to be standing close by when up the gelding went on his hind legs and his ridiculously long mane wavered in the slight desert breeze. "Wow"

The gelding crashed down and snorted at the advancing farmhands and breeder when they were actually trying to corner him, but couldn't because of the fear of the black gelding crashing through the wooden fence yet again.

"Hey!" the breeder shouted at the misbehaving gelding who didn't pay a dime of attention to her, instead he cantered the perimeter of the paddock before lazily stepping over the fence and trotting away with his head held high.

Mindy giggled, ice-blue eyes obviously displaying great interest as the farmhands ran after him and that told James everything he needed to know.

Wiping her brow as the black horse jaunted right back into the barn towards his stall, the breeder made her way back towards the couple.

"I'm so sorry…" she sighed and made sure the barn doors were closed before facing the couple once more, "we're getting rid of him in a week or so"

"Why?" Mindy asked quite incredulously, and the breeder's eyes widened in astonishment she was even being asked that, "Where is he going?"

The breeder didn't answer, and that alone from what Mindy had told him about slaughterhouses happening to horses all over the country made James shake his head and interject.

"I want him" he nodded to the breeder, and the very way Mindy faced him with completely soft eyes let him know how proud she was of him and internally he knew she was pleased. The moment he crashed the fence she wanted that animal.

"Oh no!" the breeder shook her head worriedly, knowing that equine was a lawsuit waiting to happen, "He's not for sale"

"Why NOT?" James asked a bit sharply, "He meets my wife's criteria"

"But Mr. Lawson, please…" she looked to Elizabeth in Mindy's arms and shook her head, "consider your children and your…" she eyed the Arabian who had his face rested over James's shoulder like a big puppy, "other animals"

Now, Arabians were one of the most sought-after breeds in the entire world so Cotton was nothing to look down on, but Warmbloods were also highly regarded and a favorite among the wealthy since they were often used in sport such as steeple-chasing, but something about that one even though it scared the shit out of him made James also highly interested.

"Don't worry about my family" James said to the breeder quite coldly as Mindy was already drifting away towards the closed barn with Elizabeth in her arm, "I'll worry about my family. YOU sell me that horse."

"Mr. Lawson…" she sighed again, the fear of a lawsuit hanging over her head, "He's too hot-blooded I can't sell you him"

"You can and you will" James nodded while wrapping an arm around Cotton's nose, "You know my wife's reputation damn well and if anyone can make him into something it's her"

"I'm sorry…" she sighed when Mindy came out of the barn with the black gelding's head over her shoulder opposite the arm which was holding Elizabeth. James grinned at the audacity on her part while the breeder had a heart attack as Mindy popped her weight to the right and asked.

"Do you have his halter?"

…

"I don't know how I let you talk me into this…" James eyed the gargantuan raven-coated beast as Mindy curried his mane right next to Cotton at the stable close to home where Cotton was kept. Already he could tell she was unhappy, leaving their newest pet overnight wasn't something Mindy wanted to do.

He had fought tooth and nail with the woman before actually agreeing to sign a waiver stating he was warned that their new pet was dangerous and not meant to be privately owned never mind turned into a show animal.

"You WANTED him" she reminded him while gently stroking the animal's mane and craning the horse's neck to give his ebony muzzle a kiss, "And what is this?"

Moving the lengthy forelock that she adored out of the way revealed a white star on the gelding's forehead, making her grin widen and she giggled. James held Elizabeth in one arm and eyed the horse he would learn to ride on almost nervously. At 17.5 hands this creature was unnaturally massive for the breed. It was massive for any breed he gave most draft horses a run for their money, but he was truly bigger than James. It was almost uncomfortable for him to be placing his trust in a creature that actually could overpower him, but it sure seemed to like Mindy.

"I did" James nodded and smiled at how the star made a bit of a spade shape and he gently pet the animal's face, "my Ace of Spades."

"I love it" she gave his hand a kiss and smiled gently at the horse, "What's his nickname?"

Just like Cotton's show name was Prince Charming, Ace of Spades would be what she showed him under and it would go on his pedigree, but the nickname was needed.

"I think Spade works for him just fine" he grabbed Ace of Spade's nose like he often did to Cotton and the horse threw its head back and snorted, making James smirk and Mindy slap his hand with a grunt.

"JAMIE!" she took a moment to shake her head knowingly at him and pat the animal's neck, "Do not worry, you will get used to THAT son of a bitch very fast. I love him very much so you will too."

Ace of Spades looked James in the eye for a long moment before releasing a snort and scraping the ground with his hoof. Mindy giggled and cuddled the volatile animal, and much to her delight he stretched his neck all the way out and allowed Elizabeth to shove her hands up his nostrils.

"Hey!" James shook his head and kissed Elizabeth's cheek lovingly before pulling her hands out, but applauding the animal in his head more for its sudden change in temperament. He assumed it was the Baby Doll effect, it happened to every animal which crossed her path. His main concern was what happened once the Horse Whisperer left them alone together like she would when it was his turn to learn how to ride.

…

Shivering from the cool nighttime desert winds Cooper scrounged the seedy streets of Las Vegas for a quick way to get cash. If he mugged someone he'd most likely end up with driver's licenses and credit cards, which was the last thing he wanted at the moment. He wanted cold hard cash, which was easier said than done. He could always go to the bank and make a withdrawal, but then Mindy would know he was pulling cash out and possibly suspect him and that would put James on his ass. Not because he was concerned with Cooper so much as he wouldn't want Mindy's money being spent on what Cooper was hoping would be a mood-fixer.

The light turned green and he crossed the street, wrinkling his nose at all the homeless and actually hugging himself to stay warm when several prostitutes beckoned towards him.

"Hey, big boy…" one redhead beckoned him with a smile while another was already stepping onto the sidewalk from the alley to get at him.

"N-no thank you" Cooper managed to choke out while backing into the road, which the lithe blonde leaning against a brick wall smirked at and rolled her eyes.

"Idiot…" the peroxide-blonde muttered to herself as Cooper backed into the road panting furiously trying to avoid the sexual advances.

BEEEEEEP!

Cooper gasped at the sound of a car horn and the SCREEEEEEEECH the tires made along with more horn-slamming and the blonde had to snicker just watching the handsome young man spin around and yelp at the fact that a car almost pancaked him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I…" he panicked, too famished to really think straight when the car door opened and a burly male forced himself out of the front seat towards Cooper.

"STAY OUT OF THE FUCKIN' ROAD, DICKHEAD!" the man shouted at Cooper fearlessly, and Cooper's reaction rate was so delayed due to hunger that he couldn't even get it in him to properly respond. "HEY!" he shoved Cooper backwards and tried to catch the young man's attention, "YOU HEAR ME? YOU HEAR ME, mother fucker? What's your fuckin' problem, man? Stay outta the fuckin' road before I kill ya next time-"

A bone-thin arm covered in a cropped leather jacket wrapped around Cooper's forearm and the clicking of high-heeled black booties let him know he was being pulled backwards.

"Excuse my retarded cousin" that fast-paced low pitch made Cooper gasp and glance down at the tall blonde in heels holding his arm loosely in her cheaply black-painted nails and stringy straightened hair covering most of her upper body. Her blue eyes smeared to the point of raccoon-quality black eyeshadow and liner met Cooper's only for a moment before switching her attention back to the guy, "REALLY retarded."

Cooper went to yank his arm back, but the blonde in fishnet tights covered by a neon pink miniskirt and a black tank under that cropped leather jacket held him fast. Her skin was almost as white as Mindy's while her lips donned the brightest most obnoxious pink lipstick Cooper had seen on anyone.

"Oh yeah?" the man raised his eyebrows at the blonde who stood at about five-foot-eight without heels on, "He's your cousin?"

"Yeah" she stamped on Cooper's foot in her heels until he nodded, "What's it to you?"

The man glared at her for a long moment before realizing exactly what she was and he backed off.

"Keep your skank ass of the streets and get a job" obviously used to hearing that, the blonde curled her thin lips before giving the guy the finger and slamming a fist to the hood of his car, "HEY!"

Immediately he went to bolt after her when her eyes popped out of her head and she yanked Cooper's arm towards the alley which she came from once more.

"Let's go!" immediately she jogged away the best she could in the heels while trying not to laugh, Cooper confusedly matching pace when the guy got annoyed and drove back off. Once they got in the alley Cooper when to say something to her when she giggled and slammed a hand over his mouth, giggling and shaking her head to try and make him shut up before sighing and tossing her bleached locks against the wall.

"What…" Cooper backed away from her and pressed his back against the opposite wall, "Who the hell are you?"

Cutting the laughter, the blonde looked at him with wide eyes before pulling a cigarette out of her pocket and lighting it up, taking a drag and offering him one with a nod.

"N…" he wanted one, but shook his head, "no thanks."

"Meh" she shrugged and started smoking hers, noticing a few cars drove by irritably and sighing as they went, "there goes twenty bucks…" she watched another car go and groaned, "fifty…" another car, "seventy-five…" she faced him and took a deep breath, "you're really bad for business, you know."

"Me?" Cooper pointed to himself before eyeing the extremely young attractive blonde hiding her pitifully thin frame behind that leather cropped jacket and miniskirt.

"No," she shook her head and motioned with her burning cigarette towards the man who got out of his car to ogle the redhead, "the guy over there…" she rolled her eyes and snorted, "dumbshit. You really are retarded"

"And who the hell do you think you are to make that claim?"

"Well…" she raised her dark eyebrows and shrugged, "for one…I just bailed you out of the beating of your life"

"Please…! I didn't need you for jack" Cooper snorted when the blonde smirked and patted his arm.

"I'll remember that next time you're knee-deep in your own shit that was just kicked out of you" she responded slyly before slinking away.

Cooper watched her go for a moment before hesitating making the next move, but he did it.

"Hey!"

She spun on her heel.

"You have a name?"

"Sorry, retard" she shook her head with an exaggerated sigh, "that would be classified information."

"Hey!" he yelled at her when she eyeballed him, obviously knowing exactly who he was before shaking her head.

"Go home, rich boy" she snickered one more time, "Before you stain your shorts."

She knew he wasn't ready for these streets and for some reason he let her get away with the sassing before joining a group of three girls and getting into a beat-up Buick.


	17. Chapter 17

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: It's very cute. And it would be interesting to see just how the hell James manages to ride Spade, considering he's never been on a horse his entire life and he's not the animal whisperer like Mindy is.

…

"Owie owie owie. I think I need a hospital."

James snickered as Phil limped into the room. Princess Straightedge had survived his night with Connor by the skin of his teeth. And while the bruises on him were funny to look at, it meant that Phil had every reason in the world to bitch and complain like the brat that he was, and he was taking full advantage of that. "Aw, does the princess have a boo boo?"

Chelsea frowned and looked up in him in confusion. "No boo boo Daddy," she said, holding up her arm to show him that she didn't have an owie. When he had talked about the princess, she had thought he was referring to her and not Phil. "No boo boo."

James smiled and kissed her affectionately. "I see that and I'm very happy about that." He pointed towards Phil and nodded. "Look at the terrorist. He's got a lot of boo boos."

Chelsea looked and nodded. "Boo boo."

"And what do boo boos do?"

"Owies!"

"And how do we make them better?"

Chelsea stood herself up on her lap and kissed him. "That's right!" he said, giving her an Eskimo kiss. "You're so smart! I love my smart girl!"

"Daddy!" Chelsea said happily, hugging his neck so tightly that it felt like he was in a vice grip or something. He didn't mind though. If she wanted to squeeze him she could squeeze away.

"Wait, so someone is going to kiss my boo boos?" Phil asked, almost sounding kind of hopeful there for a second.

James glared at him. "No. Kiss your own boo boos you terrorist."

Phil pouted his lips and let out a whine. "I can't! It's not the same." He let out a dramatic sigh. "I wish Spaghetti was here."

"Why?" James asked nastily. "Baby Doll is not going to kiss your boo boos." Mindy was outside with Elizabeth, teaching the baby the ways of horse whispering. Mindy adored horses so much and she definitely wanted their youngest daughter to feel the same way about the creatures.

"But-"

"No buts dickweed. You want your boos boos kissed, you kiss them yourself." James patted Chelsea's hair as she sat back down and snuggled up against him. "Now speaking of your boo boos, where's Connor? He needs a cookie for what he's done to you."

Phil shook his head and very gingerly sat down. "How should I know? He beat me up and then when I woke up he was gone. You should be asking his partner in crime where he's at. He would know more than I would."

James snickered and got up to his feet. "Everyone knows more than you Osama Bin Punky. You're just a-"

"Did you just call me Osama Bin Punky?" Phil asked in disbelief. "Did you really just go there?"

"Uh huh," James said happily. "I did. Now deal with it." He chuckled at the look on Phil's face before taking Chelsea out of the room with him so they could begin the search for Connor. "Where's your brother?" he asked her. "Huh? Do you know where he is?"

Chelsea mutely shook her head and rested her head against his shoulder. She didn't give a damn about where Connor was. She was with James and that was all that mattered in her book.

James smiled and went into the kitchen where Amber was sitting with her tutor. "Daddy!" she said, happily getting up so she could run over to him and hug his leg.

"Hi sweetie," he said, kneeling down so he could pick her up with his free arm. There were a lot of advantages to being built like a semi-truck and one of them was being able to easily hold more than one of his children at a time, even if they were as big as Amber was now. "How's the schoolwork going?"

"It's going fine," Amber said, hugging him despite the possessive way Chelsea was hanging all over him. "Daddy can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he answered. "You know you can ask me anything you want."

She smiled and then eyed her tutor carefully before whispering in his ear so her tutor couldn't overhear her. "Can I go hunting with you again?"

He smiled warmly and nodded his head. "Of course you can. You know I always love having you come along." He kissed the tip of her nose, fuming on the inside because her request to go hunting reminded him that Matt Hardy was still out walking around when he shouldn't be. Matt fucking Hardy had rubbed him the wrong way on sight, and the comment about the ownership papers had really not set well with James. It had implied that Mindy was a dog and nobody on the face of the planet was ever going to get away with calling his wife a dog. He would not allow it at all. Matt was going to pay and he was going to pay in a very violent and bloody way. That was for damn sure.

"Thank you Daddy," Amber said, giving him a big old kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome pumpkin. Hey, have you seen Connor around anywhere? I was going to give him a cookie for beating up Princess Straightedge."

Amber shook her head. "I haven't seen him Daddy. Last I knew, Tryg and Tiffany were looking for him so they could play Infidels again."

"Okay." He set her down on the floor and motioned for her to go back to the table. "Get your schoolwork done and we'll discuss our plans later, okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Amber went back to the table and sat down and James nodded at her tutor before continuing his search for Connor. One would think that he would know exactly how to find his boy by now but he didn't. He did manage to find Thorn and Scarlett discussing something rather conspicuously between themselves and then he found Tryg and Tiffany putting on some war paint but once again, there was no Connor in sight.

"Hi Jamester," Tiffany said cheerfully. "You want to play Infidels with us?"

"Actually I was looking for Connor," James said. "Have you seen her?"

Her face fell slightly as she shook her head. "We've been looking all over for him but I haven't seen him at all."

"I don't think he's very happy," Tryg said with a sigh. "Thorn and Scarlett were teaching him manners-"

"Manners?" James said, unable to hide his laugh of disbelief. "Connor? Manners?" He threw back his head and laughed, unable to get over the absurdity of that. Connor and manners were like oil and water. There was just no mixing them.

"Yeah well I don't think he took it well," Tryg said. "He got mad and hasn't really talked to anybody."

"But that doesn't answer the question about where he is now," James pointed out, already having a bad feeling in his stomach about Connor's whereabouts. If he wasn't anywhere in the house, then there was only one other place he would go and that did not set well with James at all.

"Maybe he's playing hide and seek and forgot to tell everyone," Tryg said, trying to cover Connor's tracks for him without even needing to be asked.

"Maybe…" James was hoping that was what it was but he really doubted it.

Tiffany noticed how uncomfortable he looked and got up and grabbed his arm, motioning for Tryg to follow her lead. "Come on, we'll find him together," she offered. "He can't hide from us even if he tried."

"Yeah," Tryg agreed. "We'll find him Daddy and then we'll play Infidels together, okay?"

James chuckled and ruffled Tryg's hair, messing it all up. He couldn't refuse that kind of offer if he tried. "Okay Tarzan. That sounds like a good plan to me."

…

Cooper had a hard time going to sleep the night before because of how lonely the house felt but once he got to sleep, the last thing he expected was to wake up to someone jumping and bouncing on him. "Jesus fuck!" he yelled, pushing the person off of him out of pure instinct. He opened his eyes and placed his hand over his heart, which was pounding out of control. "Who the hell…" He groaned as he saw Connor pouting up at him from his spot on the floor. "Oh fuck…"

"Why did you push me Coopy?" Connor asked, his lower lip trembling and his eyes filling up with tears. "I just came to see you and you pushed me really hard! That was MEAN!"

Cooper shook his head and threw the covers off of him so he could help Connor back up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. You just scared me half to death."

Connor sniffled loudly. "But I just wanted to see you Coopy! I missed you lots. I really did. The stupid girls and Tryggy weren't very nice to me because the girls were trying to teach me manners and Tryggy was helping them."

Cooper blinked in confusion at that. "Manners?"

"Yeah. I think it's just cuz they don't like that I still like you so now I'm going to see you even more to show them that their stupid lesson didn't work at all."

Cooper just continued to blink, not even returning the hug that Connor gave him because he was trying to wrap his head around what was just said. "They were trying to teach you manners to get you to stay away from me?" he finally said meekly.

"I think that was the point of it," Connor said with a shrug. "But then they just beated me up and they're lucky that I didn't want to get in trouble with Daddy because I could have thrown them out the window. I really could have Coopy. I could have thrown them very very far and made sure they never came back."

Cooper slowly shook his head and finally hugged Connor back, not exactly approving of the throwing of children but also not willing to scold one of the only people who actually still liked him. "Don't let Dad hear you talking like that. He'll get all cranky and shit."

"I know, I'm not that stupid Coopy," Connor said with a nod. "I won't ever say that in front of Daddy ever. Not ever ever ever." He poked Cooper in the ribs and pouted his lips. "I'm hungry Coopy. Take me somewhere to eat."

"Connor-"

"No no no, don't you Connor me," Connor said, putting his hand over Cooper's mouth so he couldn't say anymore. "You don't get to get out of this. You have Mommy's money so you can take me to get something to eat." He tried to get up so he could pull Cooper along with him, but Cooper yanked him back before he could get very far. "Coopy! Stop being a poopy head! I'm hungry and-"

"Tell me you love me," Cooper interrupted, catching Connor off guard with that question. He hadn't even been planning on asking it at all. It just was a compulsion that rose up inside of him and he had to hear it. He had to hear it now and he had to hear it from Connor because he was all he had at the moment.

"I love you Coopy," Connor said without hesitation.

"Again."

"I love you Coopy. Now feed me! I'm hungry!" Connor stomped his foot and bounced up and down anxiously and Cooper finally nodded and gave in.

"Okay fine. I'll get you something to eat. Just let me take a quick shower, okay?"

Connor's eyes widened. "Oh…THAT was what I was supposed to do today."

Cooper rolled his eyes. Connor was never good at remembering that kind of stuff. He got too distracted by his own world to give a damn at all about it. "Here, why don't you just shower with me? That way you're done with it and save Mom the hassle of trying to throw you in the tub when you go home."

Connor tilted his head to the side and considered that. "What do I tell Mommy though? She got upset when I told her you licked me. What if she gets upset-"

"We won't tell her," Cooper said, feeling bad for even suggesting such a thing. What else could he do though? He didn't want to upset her and besides, it was only a shower. It wasn't like this hadn't ever been done before. "You can tell her I made you take a bath but we'll not mention the part about me being in there too. Okay? Can you do that?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah Coopy. I can do that."

"Because you love me right?"

"Uh huh. I love you lots and lots."

Cooper smiled thinly and finally got up. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure."

…

An hour later Cooper and Connor found themselves sitting in Burger King with two trays of food in front of them. Cooper hadn't been planning on eating much but the aroma that had invaded his nostrils as soon as he walked in had made his self control slip away from him. He needed to eat so bad that he couldn't stand it. So he ordered three Whoppers and three large fries just for himself and got Connor a couple kids meals and some Oreo sundae shake thing that was guaranteed to make Connor spin out of orbit but he didn't care. Connor loved him so he was getting whatever the hell he wanted.

"Daddy let me beat up Princess Straightedge," Connor informed him after he had swallowed a mouthful of chicken nugget.

"Mmm?" That was the only response that Cooper could give because he was too busy stuffing his face to verbally respond.

"It was fun," Connor said with a nod. "Fun fun fun. He screams like a little bitch." He giggled at the memory and happily munched on his food. "Daddy and Mommy are keeping him as a doggy."

Cooper could only shake his head at that. That didn't surprise him at all. That sounded exactly like something James and Mindy would do and find lots and lots of humor in it.

"Want some?" Connor asked, actually offering up a bite of his sundae. That was absolutely mind blowing because Connor never shared his treats. He was very selfish when it came to that kind of stuff.

Cooper nodded and happily took a bite. He felt guilty for eating when he didn't deserve it but he was pushing that to the back of his mind. He could deal with his self hatred later. Right now, it was all about the eating before went even more crazy than he already was.

"Coopy? Can we go to the zoo? Please please please with a cherry on top?"

Cooper opened his mouth to answer but his voice died as his eyes landed on the person who had just walked in. "Oh God," he muttered, his heart skipping a beat and his mouth going completely dry.

"What?" Connor said in confusion. He turned around and saw what Cooper was looking at. "Oh. Hi Jeff!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **LoveToRead911**: Because torturing his is fun…he's so damn angst-y that it makes it so easy to do. **NeroAnne**: He is. And then he wonders why people think he's such a bitch *shakes head at him* Oh yeah and things are about to get real interesting here. Cooper and Jeff were so not expecting this run-in and Connor is there to add his two cents, which could turn out to be not such a good thing…

…

Wide-eyed Jeff watched Connor run over to hug him and was shocked to be wrapped into an air-tight hug and lifted into the air.

"Hi hi hi hi hi hi!" eagerly Connor bounced while hugging Jeff as tightly as he could, making Cooper slump in his seat and completely feel his heart in the pit of his stomach, "Hi Jeff! HI Jeff how are ya?"

"Connor?" pouting his lips confusedly and trying to get back to his feet, Jeff scanned the restaurant with his eyes hopefully searching for Mindy munching on a fry or something, "What are you doing here?"

"EATING!" Connor shouted at him like he was brain dead, "I came with Coopy! See!"

"Oh Christ…" Cooper slammed a palm to his face and ran it over his mouth, curling his lips in tightly and trying to keep eye contact with the table. He wanted to go to Jeff so badly but he knew that wasn't an option anymore. Jeff wanted his head on a plate and he totally deserved it.

Jeff's gaze fell on Cooper, but he didn't want it to. His eye twitched a bit and he looked directly at Connor.

"Where's the rest of your family, man?" he patted Connor on the arm politely, and tried not to glare at Cooper who obviously didn't want a part of him, glaring at the table like that.

"At home" Connor shrugged carelessly while trying to bring him over to the table, "Come! Eat with us!"

"…no thanks" Jeff eyed the table warily as Cooper finally managed to lift his eyes to look at him, "I think I'll just grab it and go…" he nodded a bit wisely and backed a step much to Connor's (and secretly Cooper's) dismay, "Matt's been waiting and-"

"No no no, sit DOWN with us!" Connor yanked Jeff into the seat between him and Cooper gleefully, making Jeff simply want to keel over from how awkward everything had become.

…

"How do you know where he lives, Daddy?" Amber frowned while staring at the GPS James had on just for the hell of it. He didn't plug an address in, but frankly he didn't need to.

"Because, pumpkin" he turned his attention from the road to smile at his eldest daughter, "Jeff told Mommy where he was staying and I memorized the address"

"Psycho…" she said a bit slowly and giggled at the glare he shot her, "nah, I'm just fuckin' around with ya. I want a tomahawk embedded in his skull"

"That's my girl" he smiled fondly and leaned down so they could kiss, "I bought the multi-colored marshmallows for our hot chocolate when we get back"

"Ooo!" her eyes lit up and he completely adored it, "I always make yours SPECIAL, Daddy, you know that!"

She did. She always gave him the perfect swirl of whipped cream with a dancing plethora of marshmallows on top of it.

"I do" he nodded and took her left hand in his right, "and I love it every time."

"What kind of knife am I using here?" she pouted her lips before beginning to search the car, but James got an idea and shook his head.

"I'll hold him, you do the stabbing, how's that sound?" his hunting knife was in her hand anyway. Amber thought about it for a moment before shrugging and squeezing his hand.

"We'll work it out when we get there…" grinning she clasped his hand and jerked her head towards the trunk, "Mommy says you sometimes use the tire iron"

"That I do" he nodded and smirked at her, "Why? You want it?"

She nodded.

…

Jeff sat at the table staring directly at Connor while Cooper's eyes were locked on Jeff helplessly. He had so many fucking things he wanted to say so him but couldn't get a word of them out because of his dry mouth and lack-of guts. Connor was chattering away of course, Jeff occasionally asking the quick awkward question before allowing Connor to carry back on with conversation.

"So what DID you do today?" Jeff asked for the twelfth time, actually rubbing his temples to the point of nausea.

"Well…" Connor took a breath excitedly and continued chewing on his food, "Coopy and I took a shower, and-"

"CONNOR!" the very way Cooper's eyes narrowed and he practically leapt across the table made Jeff's eyes widen in shock even more than what he initially had heard, and Connor was not pleased.

"What?" he folded his arms across his chest and stuck his tongue out, "You said don't tell MOMMY! Jeff's not Mommy!"

"Might as well be…" Cooper whispered to himself while running a hand over his face, Jeff actually shaking his head and rising from the table.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Jeff gasped while shaking his head at Cooper in dismay, "First Min now your own BROTHER?"

"Jeff no-" Cooper plead to dead ears.

"Are you that fucking sick in the head?"

"PLEASE, Jeff, just" Cooper actually rose from the seat and went to take Jeff's hand but immediately the younger Hardy backed for the door.

"No, man" he shook his head and held up both hands, double-taking between both Cooper and Connor, "I'm sorry I just cannot deal with all the fucking bullshit your psychotic family comes with. Each and every one of you down the fucking line are nutjobs."

"JEFF! No! Please!"

"MEAN!" Connor stuck his tongue out at Jeff and scowled, "We didn't do nothin' you big meanie!"

"Connor…" the very way Cooper growled that and craned his neck let Connor know JUST how much trouble he was in, "what did I tell you about opening your big fucking mouth?"

"You said not to MOMMY, you did!" Connor pleaded, "Only MOMMY!"

Cooper's face fell…he DID only say not to tell Mindy.

"My bust" he admitted before curling his lips and shaking his head, trying to chase thoughts of just how fucking dead and disgusting he was out of his head. "From now on promise me not to just say shit to anyone, got it?"

The very innocent glaze which formed over Connor's eyes made Cooper's heart melt.

"Not even Spike and Snoopy?"

"No."

"Or Tryggy and Tiffany?"

"NO."

"Or-"

"ABSOLUTELY not!"

"MEAN!"

…

"Wow, Daddy…" innocently holding the tire iron and knife as James slipped a long wire under Matt and Jeff's door, Amber's eyes widened, "Where did you learn THIS?"

Concentrating hard only for a moment as he knelt and flipped the long wire up, James managed to pull down the handle from the inside with the wire and open the door right up before smiling and retrieving his long wire.

"Because I'm just that awesome" grabbing his knife he gave Amber's stomach a good pinch and she giggled loudly, doubling over and shaking her head as James entered the dark room first.

Already he was straightening out the wire as Amber closed the door behind them carefully. Matt was conked out under the covers, but James didn't give a shit. Carefully he wrapped the wire around Matt's neck and turned it into a long leash and collar, immediately choking Matt and making him kick about when James growled and thrashed him to the floor. The lamp was knocked over in the process as well as the nightstand, but James flipped them both out of the way before dragging Matt around by the wire which was wrapped around his neck.

Matt fought, kicked, and tried to swing his arms to grasp his own throat when he caught the cold gaze of Amber watching with the tire iron in hand.

"Hey!" catching where Matt's eyes were, James slashed the tips of Matt's fingers with the knife and shook his head, "Do you seriously fucking think you're in any place to be placing your eyes on my child? Huh? Do you?"

Matt didn't answer, so James whacked him with the butt of the knife and kicked him repeatedly on the ground.

"SPEAK UP!"

"I don't think Matt wants to be a good doggy, Daddy" Amber pointed out quite flatly, "You should teach him a lesson."

"You know" James looked to Amber before nodding with pouted lips, "I think you're right"

Amber giggled.

"I mean" he shrugged while tightening the wire around Matt's neck, "He sure had no problems treating Mommy like a doggy, right?"

Amber nodded.

"I say…" he growled and slashed the knife over Matt's chest, "we teach the mutt how to beg"

"I couldn't agree more…" smirking cruelly the child raised her right hand and swept it down.

WHAM!

Across the face Amber knocked Matt with the tire iron and enjoyed watching the blood run.

"What was that?" James asked Matt after he grunted, "You want pumpkin to do it AGAIN?"

WHAM!

Matt was bleeding heavily as Amber continued to watch with those dead eyes, James satisfactorily nodding and giving her a big kiss on the lips before grabbing Matt's hair and smashing his face against the floor.

"YOU FUCKING BEG NOW, MUTT!" James snarled while literally imprinting the carpet onto Matt's face, "YOU FUCKING BEG NOW, YOU HEAR ME?"

Matt could barely even keep himself alive after Amber's blows and James's cuts, but James didn't care. He gave Amber a look and she went into the hotel bathroom, coming out with liquid soap and shampoo.

"What do you think, Daddy?"

"Do you think this mutt needs to beg properly?" James asked while flipping Matt onto his stomach, and Amber nodded happily. "Good girl" he smiled gently before taking the bottles from her and emptying the contents all over Matt's wounds happily, relishing the way Matt screamed in pain before taking his knife and completely bludgeoning him until he was stabbing into the carpet. Amber pelted at him with the tire iron a little more before grabbing her frantic father's neck and kissing the temple of his blood-splattered face. He wasn't done either. James hadn't said anything because he wasn't done. What Matt had said about Baby Doll just snapped him in all sorts of nasty ways and he didn't want to be finished.

"You did it, Daddy" she nodded while kissing him repeatedly to calm him down, "You did SUCH a good job, Daddy, Mommy will be so happy for you"

"I hope so" James nodded hopefully when the door opened and Jeff flicked the lights on to see father and child drenched in his older brother's blood.

…

_Blonde, tanned Trish and Mindy dressed exactly alike sat on large metal crates backstage between matches at the RAW taping on January 19th, 2004. One of Mindy's tiny arms was happily wrapped around Trish as the twin was venting her Chris Jericho woes._

"_Don't let Christian discourage you…seriously. He's SUCH a creep I'll make Kane beat him up for you." _

"_Beat who up?" Kane asked upon walking over and standing between Mindy's dangling legs, rubbing her thighs and lower abdomen._

"_Christian!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed, "He's SUCH a little…" she growled, "I hate him! He always makes Trisha feel SO bad about Jericho and I really don't appreciate someone making my twin feel that way."_

"_Sucks for you!" Kane snickered uncaringly at Trish when Mindy smacked his arm with a gasp._

"_HEY!" she shook her head with a gasp until Kane handed her a pink smoothie from Jamba Juice. _

"_I know you like the pink one."_

_Her face lit up and her blue eyes just about popped out of her head, "OH MY GOD!" Mindy wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and they kissed several times, "Thank you sooo much! You didn't have to do that!"_

_Kane smiled gently, "I wanted to." _

_Mindy took a sip of it and offered him some, though he humbly denied._

"_I got it for YOU; I don't consume that kind of shit." _

"_It's really good though!" of course the young blonde was trying to entice, "Like worth your money good."_

_Still Kane shook his head. _

"_Try it you might like it, you're just such a grouch you'll never know!"_

_Kane pointedly took a sip of it and nodded._

"_Admit it…" she waited smugly for his answer._

"_Alright, it's good!" _

_Mindy giggled and kissed him sweetly while holding him tightly. Kane kissed her back hungrily and scooped her over his shoulder as she sipped the drink and shook her head at him._

"_You're unbelievable…" she rolled her eyes as Kane smirked and smacked his hand over her rear, "OOWWWW!" she hit him with her free hand, "Butthead!" _

_Kane laughed and started to carry her off when Mindy signaled "I'm sorry" to Trish and "Call me". Trish nodded and blew her a kiss as they walked away._

"_You know that match tonight was SO bogus like…" Mindy spoke casually from being slung over her bald boyfriend's shoulder, "that was SO wrong how the ref just assumed it was you and gave you the DQ."_

"_Don't even get me started on that son of a-" he tempered himself, "buying you that drink took it off my mind and now you brought it back again."_

"_I'm sorry…" she giggled, "I just think it's funny how whenever something happens everyone assumes that it was you."_

"_Tell me about it." _

"_You know you're not that bad, actually. I think you're really sweet when you want to be." _

"_Nah…only when you're around"_

"_Why?" _

"_Because you're very special to me." _

_Mindy bit her lip and nodded, on the verge of tears._

Phil popped the DVD out and searched for the February one next. He was in the basement, where Mindy had a DVD of every month of every year of her seven-year WWF/E career. She had tried to hide them all because they were memories she didn't want to relive, but the way Phil saw it they weren't harming anyone, were they? After all they did happen at one point. Kane was also his best friend and admittedly he did miss him a lot. He wasn't so sure if he missed him with Mindy because he himself was sickingly in love with Mindy, but he did like Kane better for Mindy than James. He hated James. He thought James was a fucking lunatic who needed an asylum like an Ethiopian needed cake.

…

"What the hell is this?" Tiffany pulled Mindy's extremely low-riding jeans outward and pointed out the vast amount of space between the denim and Mindy's hips.

"What" Mindy was playing dumb with that furrowed brow and Tiffany knew it, "what do you mean?"

"Loo-loo" she sighed, popped her weight to the right, and noticed the way Mindy was standing, "why are you disappearing?"

"I eat" she announced coldly, "You watch me eat, Taryn! Jamie does too, I'm EATING"

"Then WHY are you losing weight like this, Loo?" she shook her head worriedly and ran a hand through her hair, "I can count your ribs! You're a stick with fake tits!"

"Look…" Mindy sighed and clamped a hand in her hair.

"It's because you're performing again, isn't it?" Tiffany responded with raised eyebrows, and Mindy didn't really despond to that.

"I'm stressed, alright?"

"Mhm" she gave a disbelieving nod, "and WHAT'S stressing you out to make you drop from a four to a zero?"

"Cooper's been…"

"Oh, so you're gonna tell your darling husband that missing your stepson is making you lose weight like this? Loo!" she narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "The guy fucking RAPED you, let him go! Jamester's gonna start thinking very bad things"

"No he will not" Mindy shook her head and pouted her lips, "Jamie will not care if I look prettier-"

"Losing weight like that is NOT attractive"

"At least I can wear a bikini"

"You could wear one BEFORE too!"

"Lies" the much slimmer Mindy said dismissively before heading for the basement door, "I'ma check on Meatball, he said he was playing Wii."

"Whatever" Tiffany didn't even want to fight with her she was so frustrated, as Mindy carefully went down the stairs and stopped dead about halfway, her lips pouting and her head immediately beginning to shake in denial.

_Kane had Mindy's hands clasped in one of his as they made out against a wall backstage on February 2nd, 2004. His other arm wove in her bleached-blonde hair and she pulled back, pulling down his bottom lip with her tongue. They both laughed and Kane nuzzled her neck, making her giggle and pet the top of his head._

"_Kane!" she laughed loudly, "I have a title match! I have to be serious!"_

"_Serious?" he was stunned, "You're going to win, what's it matter?"_

"_Nah…" her head shook humbly. _

"_YES!" he sweetly pulled that mess of blonde hair back, "Winner's mentality, come on!"_

_Mindy pulled him in for a passionate kiss and sniffled as she held onto him._

"_You know Kane…" she shook her head, "I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you."_

"_Natural selection would have pegged you off."_

"_KANE!" she slapped his arm, "Hate you! I was trying to have a moment but you ruined it!" _

_He smirked, "I tend to…"_

_She started walking away, "Goodbye!" _

"_No Minda wait!" he grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a huge, rough kiss._

"What the fuck are you doing?" that shrill voice snared Phil's attention and he turned o see an extremely frazzled Mindy standing there with her eyes glazed over like someone had just shot her.

"Oh" Phil exhaled casually before motioning to the screen, "You mean this?"

Mindy didn't answer. Her hands started vibrating like they normally did in her schizophrenic episodes and unshed tears burned her eyes.

"Oh, Spaghetti! Come on!" Phil waved her off and smiled gently, "You were such a little sweetheart, what the hell happened to you?" he was clearly joking, but the look on her face didn't change, "Spaghetti?"

The rattling hands began to spread to her arms and her entire body almost began convulsing where she stood as if having a seizure.

"Hey!" he almost rolled off the couch to approach her when her teeth barred and she growled like a wildcat.

"WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT ON, HUH?" she shrieked at him, completely unhinged as he came her way, "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT? THAT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS-"

"WHOA!" immediately both hands went up and he shook his head confusedly, "Spaghetti! What's the matter?"

"What's the matter-" she muttered sarcastically while dropping her eyes before lifting them once more and looking completely possessed, "WHAT'S THE MATTER? YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-"

"WHAT? To miss the only real friend I ever had?" Phil barked at her accidentally, "Sorry for having half a fucking heart-"

"Why is that on?" she asked again, her eyes drawn to the screen as Phil popped the DVD out, "I SAID WHY IS THAT ON?"

"Umm how about it's your fucking past and you can't just bottle it up in a safe because you have that new fucking monstrosity in your li-"

SLAP!

"Okay," he nodded with a grimace while rubbing his cheek, "I'm sorry, I deserved that"

Shaking her head still at the screen she began to sob loudly, which confused the hell out of Phil so he touched her shoulder.

"Spaghetti?" he frowned as she cried even louder and threw her hands to her sides, "Spaghetti? Did he give you your pills this morning?"

Little did he know James practically took her off all medication because it hadn't been necessary in his presence.

"Spaghetti!" worriedly he looked around for something, anything to drown out the shrieking screams when suddenly her face went completely blank, "Spaghetti?"

Demonic laughter made both her hands clutch her temples and she doubled over.

"No, no no no no no no no no" she panicked lowly in a hushed whisper, tears streaming down her face in rivers, "go away go away go away go away" the laughter again lifted her eyes and she screamed at the top of her lungs as the walls began to bleed, forcing her to retreat towards the center on the basement and she actually hopped on the coffee table to avoid blood.

Poor Phil was practically clueless watching her jump on the table and completely double over a psychotic crying mess.

"Spaghetti!" he started for the schizophrenic when suddenly she cried out like a murder victim.

"NOOOOO!" she fell off the table at the shadowed man with glowing red eyes completely drenched in blood in the corner, "GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! YOU'RE DEAD YOU'RE DEAD DEAD DEAD!"

He could only laugh again, sending her into a screaming fit into the bathroom to stop once she flicked the lights on and throw her hands over her mouth in a fright.

'_BITCH_' was written across the mirror in dripping blood and immediately she backed into the wall, crying her eyes out when her fingers touched the wall and it was wet.

"What…?" she panicked and saw '_SLUT_' written on the wall behind her in crimson and she wailed to see '_LIAR_' on the wall across from her. Both her hands clutched her temples as Phil ran into the completely empty bathroom and confusedly looked around.

"Spaghetti! What's wrong? What's the matter?"

It was the dead of night yet she wriggled out of his grasp and shrieked for her very life, stumbling while trying to keep away from the bleeding walls, leaving a very confused Phil to himself in the basement.

"What in all of fucking holy names was THAT?"

…

The normal hours were obviously way past over, but as a boarder Mindy had no time constraints as to when she could see her animals. She didn't even care if there were. By the nose she dragged Cotton out of his stall a crying shaking mess when someone else nudged her, making her sniffle and snap her neck to see none other than the Ace of Spades trying to stick his long neck as far out of the stall as he could to come with her.

Shivering and coughing she stared at the black Hanoverian with a white star on his forehead and she kissed Cotton's nose quickly before opening the stall door and letting the massive animal out with out a halter, saddle, or bridle on. At first she just hugged his neck expecting the thing to bite her when he lifted her off the ground slowly so her feet could poke up like a princess before allowing her to swing her legs over his neck and slide down so she was seated on his bare back. Loyally little Cotton stood right next to Spade when she sniffled and just squeezed her calves into the Hanoverian's side, making him take off like a bat out of hell and Cotton immediately cantered with his short legs alongside the massive creature. She had no direction she just wanted that animal to run as fast as it fucking could before she killed someone.

The moonlight created a blue sheen on Spade's fur and the cool night air of the desert sent a chill down Mindy's spine because she wasn't wearing a sweater. It was extremely dangerous going anywhere on a horse without any kind of steering device or saddle to stay on, but she did it easily. Cotton eagerly tried to match pace with the unhinged Hanoverian, carrying his snow white tail high in the air like any typical Arabian while Mindy clenched Spade's mane in her hands and just kept spurring him on.

Sand kicked up everywhere as the pair of horses sprinted mindlessly through the desert, judging where to go by the moon and they'd gone to the point that Mindy couldn't even see the equestrian center in the distance. She just kept clicking with her tongue to kick the monster forwards and Cotton was galloping to the point that Mindy knew her lungs were going to burst when a collection of jagged rocks about four and a half feet high and five feet long became easy work for the black gelding and over them he went much to Mindy's astonishment, meanwhile little Cotton galloped around the rocks since he couldn't go that high and that far at the same time before nipping the Hanoverian in the butt for showing off like that.

Cotton actually began to cough for running that way and the fear of something happening to her beloved Arabian made Mindy cease pressure with her calves and reluctantly she began to rub Spade's neck shakily.

"Ho…!" gradually she cooed him to stop and got him to a long-strided trot, "ho….ho, baby…!"

Spade stopped completely and Cotton gagged where he stood and started munching on a small, dry indigenous shrub. He was mainly chewing on the plant to get any kind of moisture out of it and Spade just stood stiff watching him, letting Mindy gently pet his neck.

Her phone was vibrating like mad in her pocket but she chose not to answer it.

"Przykro mi…" (I'm sorry…) she said to her Arabian with a heavy frown, "Nie myślałem o tobie, gdy powinien mieć" (I was not thinking of you when I should have) she sniffled and rubbed her eyes furiously with her wrist, "Musiałem uciec" (I had to get away) she nodded with a big sniffle and shivered from the cold, "Musiałem uciec!" (I had to get away!)

Cotton did nothing but walk over and rest his dished-in face on her leg, making her smile lovingly and stroke his face when Spade craned his neck and nipped at Cotton to make him go away.

"Hey!" the bop to the nose Mindy gave him ceased that before Cotton resumed comforting her. Eventually Spade caved and craned his neck so she could pet him as well, licking her hand before letting her pull her phone out and cover a hand over her mouth at how many calls she had skipped from the last person she wanted to purposely miss.


	19. Chapter 19

**Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! **LovetoRead911**: Yeah that was just NOT the thing to tell Jeff at all, but Connor (in all his childlike mind glory) really didn't see what the problem was. Jeff's not James and or Mindy and Cooper didn't say to keep his mouth shut around anyone else. Cooper kind of helped to screw himself over there. **EternalxInsanity**: Yeah that was definitely a blast from the past she didn't need. James will go and take care of her though *nods* And yeah, poor Jeff. It's just not his day at all.

…

_Jeff's jaw dropped in shock as his eyes stayed glued on his brother's dead body. He must have slipped into some kind of shock because he couldn't move. He couldn't scream. He couldn't even utter a sound or think any kind of rational thought. All he could do was stand and stare at the sight before him. His and Matt's relationship had been far from good lately because of Matt's behavior but douche bag or not, Matt was brother. And he was dead-no, not just dead. He had been murdered by two of the members of America's most psychotic family._

"_I think he might scream," Amber said, studying Jeff carefully before looking up at James. The child was way too calm for having just taken part of a very violent and bloody murder and Jeff had the sickening feeling that this wasn't the first time she had done something like this. "We can't let him scream."_

_James nodded and stepped over Matt so he could place one of his hands over Jeff's mouth. "Now look Hardy, I need you to stay calm," he said firmly. "There's no sense in losing your cool-"_

_James had Matt's blood on his hands and it got on Jeff's lips and that finally snapped him out of his trance. "What the FUCK is wrong with you?" he asked as he wrenched himself out of James's grasp. "What…why…why would you-"_

"_He insulted Baby Doll," James reminded him. "Remember? At the diner-"_

"_So you just came in here and killed him?" Jeff knew he probably should not be engaging James in this conversation but he couldn't control himself. "Look I know what he said was bad but-"_

"_But what?" James snapped while Amber folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "He called my wife a DOG. He fucking called her a dog so we made him one." He looked back and spat on Matt's body. "Are you saying we were wrong for what we did Jeffey?"_

_Jeff gulped nervously. He got the feeling that the wrong answer was going to cause him all kinds of problems that he didn't need. "Dude, you couldn't have just maimed him?" he finally said meekly. "I think he would have gotten the message-"_

"_But then he could have gotten us in trouble," Amber said, stepping on Matt before hugging James possessively. "Matt obviously has a big mouth so we can't trust him not to keep our lesson quiet."_

"_Yeah," James agreed, putting his arm around Amber so he could give her a one arm hug. "Matt would have told on us and that wouldn't have been very good at all."_

_Jeff didn't even know what to say at this point. James and Amber clearly didn't give a shit about what they had just done. James was as cold blooded as they came when it came to killing and Amber was obviously learning that from him. And there was really nothing Jeff could do about it. Not only was he still in shock but it wasn't like he could really do all that much even if he could think to do it. He couldn't call the police, he couldn't physically do anything to avenge his brother…he was pretty much helpless._

"_Look, I can see that you're upset," James said, sounding way too chipper for Jeff's taste. "And that's understandable. It really is." He reached into his pocket and got out his wallet. "So I'm going to guide you through what's going to happen next. Amber and I are going to clean up this mess and you are going to go downstairs and have some drinks while contemplating the ways you can forget all this ever happened. Okay?"_

Jeff shook his head as the bartender refilled his glass with more whiskey. He was down at the bar trying to drink his thoughts away but it wasn't working too well. He couldn't just forget this like James had told him do. His brother, his own flesh and blood, had been murdered. What the hell was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to tell his dad? How could he explain away the fact that Matt was no longer around?

No answers came to him and he hated it. He didn't know what the fuck to do. This whole family…what the hell was wrong with that family? James was a murderous lunatic who had just killed his brother, Cooper had turned into a creature who had not only broke his heart but raped his step-mother and was doing only god knows what to his own brother and Connor was completely out of his mind. It was fucking madness and he couldn't even begin to understand it.

"Long day?" the bartender asked with raised eyebrows.

"You have no idea," Jeff replied dryly. He stared down at his drink, letting out a huge sigh as he tried to get his thoughts all together. He needed to talk to Mindy. If anyone could help him now, it would be her.

…

Mindy called James back pretty much as soon as she realized she had inadvertently ignored him. She was freaking out big time because she never ignored him and when he answered on the very first ring, she found out he was freaking out just as badly as she was.

"Baby Doll! Baby what's the matter? I've been calling you for forever and you never picked up. What happened? Are you alright? Nobody knows where you are Baby Doll, I'm worried sick about you!"

Mindy began to cry because she felt so bad and that just made him even crazier. "Baby Doll! No no no, please don't cry! Where are you? Did someone hurt you? Did I make you mad? TELL me Baby Doll! I can't fix it if you don't tell me."

Mindy sniffled and shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong Jamie. Don't talk like that."

"But you never answered so I thought-"

"I thought you were Meatball," Mindy explained weakly. "I went riding with Cotton and Spade and I thoughted you were him so I didn't answer. I didn't want to talk to him but I didn't mean to ignore you Jamie. I'm so so sorry I didn't mean to do it I swear."

"Wait, you went riding with Cotton and Spade? To where?"

"The desert…"

"By yourself? During the night?"

"I had to. I had to get away from him."

James just about wrecked his car at those words. "Get away from who? Who came after you Baby Doll?" Again his imagination was running a million miles per second and he was really freaking out about who could have tried to hurt Mindy.

"Glen. I saw him Jamie I did. He was making the walls bleed and I didn't like it. I had to get away from him."

James went completely silent at her words. She waited patiently for him to say something but then got worried when he stayed silent. "Jamie?"

"I'm coming for you Baby Doll okay? I'll be there as fast as I can."

She nodded and nuzzled up against Cotton, planning on getting both horses back to the stable before James got there himself. She didn't want him trying to search for her too hard because she didn't want him anymore upset than he already was. "Okay Jamie. I love you."

"I love you too Baby Doll. I love you so fucking much, you hear me? Just stay with the horses and if anything or anyone tries to come at you, just have Spade eat them. I'll be there before you know it."

…

Cooper took a long drag of his cigarette, staring at the wall because he couldn't sleep. Connor was cuddled up beside him, completely passed out from exhaustion. After the Burger King fiasco they had come back and pretty much stayed in the bedroom the entire day, doing things that Cooper knew was going to get him killed if the wrong person found out about them. But he hadn't been able to care at the time because he had just wanted to forget about everything so fucking badly. And Connor wanted to help him forget so he wouldn't be sad anymore so it worked. It all fucking worked so he went with it.

Cooper exhaled the smoke in his lungs, shivering as the sweat on his body began to cool down. The whole scene with Jeff earlier just kept replaying itself over and over again in his head no matter how much he wanted it to stop. He should have never ever let Connor do the talking. Connor didn't realize what really shouldn't be said unless he was literally told not to say something. And of course him being the dumbass he was, only said not to specifically tell Mindy about the shower earlier. He shouldn't have done that. He should have said nobody but she had been the person on his mind at the time. She was always on his mind. Her and Jeff fucking lived in his brain and he couldn't stop thinking about them. He wanted Mindy there to comfort him and he wanted Jeff to somehow forgive him and take him back because he couldn't stand this being alone shit. It was what he was used to but he hated it because he had a taste of things being great for the first time in a long time and he had lost it. He had fucking lost it and he couldn't accept that.

He put his cigarette out and began shaking Connor. "Connor! Wake up!"

Connor groaned and tried to push Cooper away. "I'm sleepy Coopy. We can play later."

Cooper shook his head and leaned down so he could kiss Connor's neck. "Come on Connor, please?"

"But I'm tired!" Connor whined, rubbing his eyes and pouting his lips childishly.

"I know but I got sad again," Cooper said, trying to repress the feelings that this was totally and completely wrong for him to do. He couldn't think about those feelings. He needed to make the feelings stop and he needed help with that because he wasn't capable of doing that. "Please Connor? Please help me? You know what happens when I get sad…"

Connor opened his eyes and stared at Cooper worriedly. "You promised not to hurt yourself again Coopy."

"And I won't. Just help me please."

Connor nodded and yawned before rolling over on his back. "Fine. But you better let me sleep afterwards or I'll bite you."

Cooper's lips twitched in amusement. "Okay. You can sleep all you want afterwards, I promise." He kissed Connor as hard as he could, burying the feelings of wrongness and focused on the warmth of the naïve and all too willing to appease him younger man that was underneath him. This was okay because he needed it. He needed it just to survive and as long as nobody else knew, who was he really hurting?

…

James got to Cotton's and Spade's stables in record time and found Mindy already back waiting for him. She burst into tears upon seeing him and literally launched herself into his arms, crying and hugging him for dear life. "I'm sorry Jamie," she apologized. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry you. I really didn't."

James just hugged her tightly, kissing the side of her face and frowning as he realized just how light she felt. She had always been a tiny little thing but he had been starting to notice that she had been losing weight and he didn't like it. But as much as he didn't like it, there was something else that needed to be addressed first. "Why did you see Crispy Critter Baby Doll?" he asked gently. She hadn't had a schizo episode since they had gotten married because he himself worked better than the fourteen horse pills that were killing her did. "What made you see him?" Something had to have triggered her. It just had to have.

"He was on the TV," Mindy answered. She rested her head on his shoulder and began playing with his hair. "And then he was with me and he wouldn't go. He made the walls bleed and I didn't like it."

"I wouldn't like it either," James said, carrying her back towards the car so he could take her home. "But he's dead Baby Doll. He can't ever hurt you again. I wouldn't ever let that happen."

"I know Jamie," Mindy said, tightening her arms around him. "I don't think he likes that though."

"Too bad for him. You're mine and I'm not letting anything happen to you." He hugged her possessively, suddenly stopping and frowning when he could have sworn he felt one of her ribs poking him. "Baby Doll?"

"Yeah?" Mindy said, looking at him with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You're…you're fading on me."

Mindy was startled by that. "What do you mean Jamie?"

James swallowed nervously and shook his head. "You feel too thin Baby Doll."

Now Mindy was really confused. "Too thin? What do you mean too thin? I'm not too thin! You're crazy Jamie, you don't know what you're talking about!"

James kept shaking his head. "No Baby Doll, I think I just felt your ribs poking me. That's not natural-"

"Okay so I lost a little bit of weight but it's not a big deal Jamie!" Mindy frantically began placing kisses all over his face to distract him. "It's not a big deal at all Jamie."

"It is a big deal Baby Doll," James insisted gently. He set her down on her feet so he could look her in the eyes better. "I want you to be healthy Baby Doll." He knew damn well she had a history of eating disorders and he didn't want to think for an instant that that crap had started back up again.

"I am healthy," Mindy insisted. "I'm all healthy. I'm just stressed. Everyone's looking at me again so I have to be prettier."

"If they don't like the way you look, they can go fuck themselves," James said, his voice getting a bit harder than he intended for it to. "If that's what all this spotlight shit is doing to you then you don't need that crap."

Mindy's jaw dropped in shock and she shook her head, stricken by what he had just said. "Jamie!"

James immediately kissed her, knowing he had upset her but not willing to go back on what he said. He loved her unconditionally; the public didn't. They were fickle as fuck, praising her when she was tripping over herself to change her body just for them and tearing her down when she didn't live up to their horrible standards. It was fucking ridiculous and he hated it. He absolutely hated it. "Let's talk about it later," he said when he broke the kiss just so he could breathe again. "Okay? The babies are worried about you. I promised I would bring you home as soon as I could."

"Okay," Mindy said, nodding along with what he said even though what he had said was still bothering her.

He kissed her again and put her in the car, taking a deep breath and rubbing his eyes. This wasn't exactly the way he had pictured the night going after offing Matt. He hadn't planned on almost having a heart attack because she was off hiding from ghosts and not talking to Phil for whatever reason and he really didn't expect to get slapped in the face by body image issues. "Fuck it," he said, walking around the car so he could get into the driver's seat. He wasn't going to let her starve herself or anything just for some fucking public that would tear her apart anyway. If that was all it was about, he would gladly take care of it because she was perfect the way she was. Being skinnier didn't make her prettier and he hated the people who had made her believe that. And if there was something more triggering her weight loss besides from the stress of the public eye, he would take care of that too. That was for damn sure.


	20. Chapter 20

**LovetoRead911****: **Because Matt insulted Mindy by insinuating she was a dog. To any normal person that is not an okay excuse to just kill someone but James is cold blooded when it comes to killing and Amber is his apprentice. In their eyes, they did what needed to be done and that's that.** Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: He's just got a big mouth. He can't always help it. This time it just really fucked over Cooper and now Jeff really don't want anything to do with him. Now the kids would be safe because they're their kids and they wouldn't either do it or mean it (and James is against killing children anyway) and Jeff wouldn't really do that (and if he did he wouldn't be stupid enough to do it in front of James). James is just…well he's even more psycho when it comes to Mindy. That's about all that can really even be said about it. And it is cute when she says it. Very very cute.

…

Excitedly tilting the can down Amber sprayed an excess of whipped cream on a pink mug (living with seven women it was amazing how fast everything in the house turned pink) which was then topped with so many multi-colored marshmallows the white was no longer visible. Hot fudge was spooned next into the biggest happy face she could draw without spilling over on the marshmallows. On the mug next to it Amber repeated the exact routine, but managed to make a big heart with a happy face instead of just the happy face. She made one for herself too, but could only carry two giant mugs at once so with a giddy pant she marveled her work before jogging into the dining room, her long blonde hair wavering behind her as she went.

"Mommy Daddy!" she bounced with her tongue between her teeth to catch James and Mindy's attention, placing the mugs on the dining room table in front of them.

Mindy sat in James's lap at around four in the morning and happily listened to him whispering things he probably wasn't even realizing he was saying because they were so soft and sweet. His arms securely wrapped around her tiny waist and his mouth was rested against her ear, making her shiver and actually cry at the words coming from him.

The dining room was the least used room in the house; they simply had no use for it. Instances where it was actually used were few and far between, though James was so distraught over the entire situation with Mindy disappearing and her anorexia resurfacing he wasn't thinking straight. He'd latched onto Mindy and simply just sat down at the nearest table simply to hold her.

"Look!" Amber beamed and jumped up to sit on the table and look her parents in the eye, "I made it SPECIAL, like ALWAYS!"

Mindy's lips pouted and she started to giggle a bit, craning her neck to face James and let his lips meet hers until he nodded.

"Ambie is Daddy's apprentice" he said fondly while making eye contact with his daughter and leaning to kiss her while checking the hard work she put into his and Mindy's hot chocolate, "and after we get business done…"

"We make hot chocolate SPECIAL!" Amber nodded while reaching over and brushing the lengthy raven hair out of Mindy's face, "I made you one though, Mommy see?" she giggled and pointed to the heart with a happy face on it, making Mindy's cloudy eyes squeeze shut so tears could shed at the sweetest looking display she'd probably ever seen. James was grinning too, but obviously he was used to it and he looked up at Amber with a frown.

"And where is yours, pumpkin?" he was growing fond of that nickname for her. Ambie was his pumpkin. So far he had a Tarzan, a Lizzie Bear, and a Princess. He needed a Pumpkin.

"In the kitchen!" she pointed inside and nodded, responding to James's jerk of the head with his brow furrowed.

"Why don't you go get it so we can all drink together?" he nodded suggestively and watched his daughter get ready to bounce with excitement.

"Good idea!" off she went, leaving her parents alone to kiss and cuddle even more for a few moments when Mindy brushed some hair from his eyes and kept his lower lip between her teeth gently.

"You do this all the time?" she raised an eyebrow and he nodded.

"I told you we're partners"

"Is she any good?" she giggled as Amber came back in and James nodded immediately.

"The BEST! Am I right, Pumpkin?"

"YES, Daddy!" she nodded while sliding her mug towards his and Mindy's, "I take bitches down and you know it."

"Damn straight" he nodded curtly while leaning forwards with a smirk, "Which is why you have no problem giving the head bitch-slayer a kiss"

"MUAH!" Amber leaned forwards and they gave each other a drawn-out kiss before finally getting to the hot chocolate.

"You'll like it, Baby Doll" he motioned to her mug of hot chocolate with the hot fudge heart and happy face sitting there, "Nobody makes hot chocolate like Ambie."

"I'll bet" Mindy giggled before reaching to grab her own, but James grabbed it instead and lifted it to her lips, holding it for her as she drank it down. "Oooo Ambieloo!" she giggled and leaned forwards to give Amber a kiss, "This is amazing!"

"Thank you, Mommy" Amber giggled and smiled as James continued helping Mindy drink and then one of his hands reached out to grab Amber's. She squeezed the warm calloused palm in her own and wrapped the arm which the hand belonged to around her shoulders to keep him closer, and of course that ended up in her being pulled right next to Mindy in his lap. Mindy had an arm around Amber and the other on James's face, both drinking and nuzzling him.

"So who did you hunt for tonight, my babies?" Mindy asked casually while petting the back of James's neck with her manicured fingers and James took a beat before kissing her temple and rubbing her belly gently, deeply saddened that there really wasn't much for him to touch at all.

"The elder Hardy is no more" James responded casually and Amber immediately followed up.

"We made him a DOG, Mommy!" she nodded eagerly while touching her mother's face, "He called you one so we MADE him one!"

"Oh, REALLY?" she placed a hand over her heart and looked both her husband and daughter in the eye.

"Yep yep!" Amber nodded while looking to James to confirm the nod, "We got him for you, Mommy! Right, Daddy?"

"You're damn right" James nodded stiffly and kissed Mindy's face repeatedly, "He deserved to die, Baby Doll for speaking to you that way. I had to end his life as he knew it before he ever thought it would be cool to hurt you again"

Though she was worried for Jeff, Mindy smiled warmly and kissed him, "Thank you." Her hands wove into his hair and she held the kiss for as long as Amber would let them, which was super long since she went back to sipping her hot chocolate.

…

After Amber was put to bed and the mugs were brought to the sink, James sat Mindy on the dining room table and stood between her dangling lower legs with all the lights out, knowing he hadn't solved what had been on her mind and wanting answers himself. Both his hands curled over her knees and his forehead was knocked against hers, the very stillness of the house creating a quiet enough atmosphere so the heart of the matter could really be discussed.

"So tell me about what you saw, Baby Doll" he nodded with the bridge of his nose against hers and immediately her eyes dropped, "Why did Crispy Critter come back for you? What can you remember for me?"

Mindy stared into space for a moment before lifting her head so her lips brushed against his, her little arms twining around his neck to the point that his fingers began to dig into her skin.

"I…" she curled her lips and moved her mouth over his so they hovered barely an inch apart, "I sawed the TV"

"And why was he on TV, precious?" he cooed and rubbed her legs, "Tell me why he was on TV, he's dead why would he be-"

"Meatball was watchin' my stuff" she said flatly before nodding and nibbling on his lips a bit, "and…"

"What stuff, Baby Doll?"

"My RAW stuff" she knew he knew she was the top Diva in WWF/E for seven years until forced to retire due to the infamous cocaine/methamphetamines scandal Vince McMahon implemented for her to lose her pregnancy weight and become super-skinny. "You know I keep all the RAW stuff" she was a RAW diva, but before WWF split brands in April of 1999 everything was kept together, "in the basement and stuff, right?"

"I do…" he nodded along with pouted lips, "and you were very talented-"

"Meatball wanted to watch without asking me and-"

"The Princess put the tape on?" he asked incredulously and Mindy nodded along drearily, "And what fucking business does he have putting that shit on, huh? He knows what a fucking heart attack that shit gives you why-"

"He did not mean to hurt me"

"I don't fucking care! That's none of his GOD DAMN BUSINESS to put that shit on and cause you to have an episode-"

"He did not see my Glen, but I did-"

"And you shouldn't have fucking seen a god damn thing, Baby Doll!" he shouted at her, "He shouldn't cause you to see that shit when I put my fucking life on the line to get you away from him! He's DEAD, darling! He's never coming back! Not ever!"

"But I…" she shuddered and started to sniffle, "saw…him…" she nodded and grabbed him by the hand, "I saw him, he…"

"Baby Doll…" he shook his head and kissed her forehead, "Nothing will EVER come and get you while I'm here. You know I'll protect you and beat the fucking life out of that princess the moment I see him next"

"Don't hurt him" she begged with a shake of the head, but his expression remained unchanged.

"And what?" he hissed, "Make you run away into the desert all by yourself in the middle of the fucking night because you think Crispy Critter is coming after you?"

"No, I-"

"He's DEAD, sweetheart! Dead, dead, dead and he's NEVER coming back!"

"But Jamie…"

"I fucking love you, do you understand me?" he grabbed her face and forced her eyes on his, "I'll fucking die for you with a smile on my face and don't you let anyone even think that I would allow some MONSTER to come and cause you any pain! You're my WIFE! My one and only, you got that?"

She nodded mutely, looking him in the eye with pure devotion.

"I wouldn't EVER let Crispy or ANYBODY come after you"

"But the WALLS, Jamie!" she cried and stared at them drearily, "The WALLS bleeded blood and the mirror had blood and it saided things"

"What KINDS of things. Baby?"

"It saided I was a bitch and it saided I was a slut and it saided I was a liar and Glen laughed mean at me-"

"Fuck that mother fucker you're none of those things, you understand me?" he hissed and grabbed her upper arms, "As far as I'm concerned he didn't even exist. You're mine, our children are mine, and every little piece of you belongs to me."

"But Jamie, he said-"

"He's DEAD" he reminded her with a nod, "And he'll NEVER come near you again, and you know why?"

She sniffled and shrugged.

"Because you belong to me forever and ever. Nothing will ever change that. Not him, not fucking Caroline, nobody."

"I love you, Jamie" she croaked while touching his face and hovering her lips over his once more, beginning to give him sweet little kisses when he looked her body over and lifted her shirt over her head so he could see just how skinny she'd gotten.

"I love you beyond reason, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Glancing in the mirror she saw her normal, pudgy self sitting on the table and she shrugged.

"You're fucking beautiful, you know that? You know that?" he shook her a bit and removed her jeans so he could look her lacy bra and panties over, "There isn't a woman alive with a face like yours"

"But I'm FAT"

"You're GORGEOUS" he ran his fingers over her skin and shook his head at the state she'd been slipping into, "How can you not see why you need to eat so badly?"

"Because I'm NOT, Jamie!" she groaned before shrugging, "You don't have to lie"

"But I told you you're fucking perfect, Baby Doll" he reminded her with a nod, "That means you are. That means you're the most perfect, beautiful girl there is and its tearing me the fuck apart to see you this way" his tone changed to a hoarse scream, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" His eyes got red but he rubbed them to make the itching stop, "I'm LOSING YOU! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING WITHOUT ME? WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO KILL YOURSELF THIS WAY I WON'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! "

"Jamie, I am FINE, what are you talking about?" her reflection again showed her to be slightly chunky figure and she shrugged, "it's nothing, Jamie."

Looking into the same mirror he was horrified. She probably weighed less than the Olsen twins.

"Please, darling, gain some weight PLEASE I like you heavier!" he nodded at her desperately while rubbing her arms, "I like you with weight on you, darling please I like you heavier"

"So you like me to be FAT" she tried to clarify when he ran a hand over his face and nodded.

"YES! I like you heavier! I want you with weight on you, please gain more weight!"

"But I am STRESSED, Jamie, you know that!"

"I don't care if you're stressed, sweetheart I want you to LISTEN TO ME when I talk to you and I want you to gain some weight so you're healthy again! Please, you're so unbelievably cute and sexy and-"

"Nobody else thinks so"

"SO fuck what everybody else thinks, you're my fucking wife and I adore you! I fucking adore you my opinion should be the only one that matters-"

"YOU do not control the media"

"If that's what's taking you away from me I want you to retire" the very way her eyes bugged out killed him, but he couldn't deal at the moment, "I want you to be happy and healthy, Baby Doll, not in a casket you're SO fucking beautiful please listen to me!"

"Performing is my LIFE, Jamie, you know tha-"

"I thought _I_ was your life!" he HATED throwing things like this in her face because he felt horrible, so he started welling up and ripped her little body as compact to him as he could get it, "You told me so! You fucking told me! Now all of a fucking sudden your career becomes more important when you don't need the fucking publicity anymore! You're MY WIFE you promised you wouldn't put anything before me you PROMISED!"

"And I MEANT IT, Jamie!" she wept and coiled her arms around his neck, nodding and pulling his face down to kiss him so he'd stop screaming when he removed her panties and bra, holding her close and burying his face into her neck, "STOP FUCKING QUESTIONING ME I'M NOT A CHILD!"

"When you're becoming a rail?" he lifted one of her arms and shook his head in dismay, "I'll fucking worry day and night, do you understand me? I'm not fucking losing you over this…" he barred his teeth and shook his head at her frame, "Media-Barbie BULLSHIT"

"Stop being mad at me!" she shrieked and clutched her temples, shivering until he realized what he was doing and shook his head in a panic.

"No no no no no no darling, shhh…" his hand clamped into her hair and he kissed her neck as hard as he could, helping her lift his shirt over his head before snuggling deeper into her skin, "I'm not mad, please don't think I'm mad, don't be mad at me, don't be mad at me please please please don't ever be mad at me"

"I'm NOT MAD, Jamie!" she frantically shook her head and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling his face to hers and kissing him frantically, "No, no, no, darling I'll never be mad, you know I love you, darling you know I love you so much"

"I love you more" he shook his head and kissed her as hard as he could, "I fucking love you more than anything on this fucking earth if I lose you" he couldn't think about it, "I'm so scared of losing you, don't fade away on me please"

Her lips covered his and carried him away to the point that he grinded his hips against hers silently and without warning she freed him from his jeans and guided his hard cock inside her, wordlessly making love on the edge of the dining room table.

She lay on her back at one point and both his palms slapped to the table to support his own weight enough to make his thrusts even harder until she sat up, reaching to fondle what she could as his arms made their way around her more and they passionately enjoyed the silence this time around. Only comforted by the sound of their bodies joining along with their own breathing, Mindy gripped his sweat-beaded body closer after he came and let him pant in the crook of her neck, kissing his hair and crying because she loved him so deeply.

"Did we fight?" she sniffled after a long moment and he shook his head, kissing her neck and pumping his hips slowly to reassure her.

"Never"

"I love you forever, Jamie darling" her legs tightened around his waist and they kissed.

"I love you forever and a million zillion fucking days until there's nothing left of us anymore and even then I'll still love you"

Her arms wrapped tighter around his back and they held the other close, panting until they cooled down before venturing into their bedroom to make love again.

…

"Look, Spaghetti…" the tips of Phil's fingers brushed over Mindy's the next morning as they sat next to the other on the living room couch, "you know I didn't mean anything by last night, alright?"

James had gone to give Elizabeth a bath and Tiffany seemed to be awfully concerned about something, speaking with James of the matter in private and that only stressed him out even more. The last thing he needed to deal with was Mindy's anorexia striking back. It was ripping a hole in his heart so huge it could hardly function.

"You're my best friend in the god damn world, there isn't a thing I wouldn't do for you"

"I understand" she nodded meekly and folded her hand in his, leaning forwards to run her hand through his short brown hair and giggle, "You look so cute now, I am so sorry I gotted mad at you"

"No, please" he shook his head and held up a hand, "You've got every right to hate me, Spaghetti, I'd hate me too"

"But I love you, Meatball so cut the shit"

"Your lovely hubby don't feel the same way"

"Oh" she lifted Tryg and giggled, "Jamie's just funny like that. He loves you, Meatball"

"The guy is twenty fucking years older than you, Spaghetti" he watched her entire expression contort uncomfortably, "That's two decades of shit, alright? You were banging a rattle and he was drinking and smoking himself to death with a kid"

"Don't talk about my Jamie that way, Meatball" she reminded him stiffly when he shook his head and sat next to her.

"No, I think you need to listen" he reminded her coldly, "He's captain insane-o over you I mean Christ"

"You're a Jew" she reminded him when he waved her off playfully and shook his head knowingly.

"Moses"

She giggled, "Much better"

"He thinks he can govern your entire fucking life"

"No he does not"

"Doesn't this all sound familiar to you?" he raised his eyebrows and she didn't respond at first, but then shook her head.

"Don't say anything bad about my Jamie; I'm fucking warning you, Meatball"

"I'm being a good friend and telling you to lay the fuck off him, do you understand me?"

"I can't listen to this"

"Spaghetti, no"

"I love you" she nodded to him while wrapping him in a hug and kissing his cheek as hard as she could, "I really really fucking love you in ways I cannot talk about" as he immediately tried to hold her back she stood and shook her head, "but I can't listen to you talk about Jamie that way, I am sorry. I do not care about our ages he fucking loves me and is the most perfect person I will ever know. Do not think you can change that" she stood off the couch, stormed upstairs into her and James's master bathroom, and grabbed him from behind as he kneeled over the little baby bathtub that Elizabeth was lying in.

"Mum mum mum!" Elizabeth clapped her wet hands together as her mother wrapped her arms around her father's neck and kissed him practically to death, dropping into his lap and straddling his waist.

"Lizzie Bear" pulling the soapy baby out of the tub, she panted and held her against her chest while pulling James's shirt off and sucking on his nipples.

"Come here…" turning the water on in their Jacuzzi bathtub he made sure it was almost scalding hot before stripping both him and Mindy and climbing in with both her and the baby.

"I love you, Jamie" she panted with a nod, licking his neck more and lowering herself onto his cock so she could ride him for the rest of the morning.

…

Mindy was lying with Elizabeth on her chest in bed when 'Can't be Tamed' boomed throughout the room and she answered her phone to shut it up.

"What would you like from my life?" she sighed uncaringly. James was downstairs playing Pretty Pretty Princess with the four girls while Tryg sat on the edge of Mindy's bed and crawled up right beside her.

"Min…"

"Oh, Jeffrey Nero baby…" her darling husband killed his brother, what could she even say?

"I take it you know…" he swallowed hard and she nodded with pouted lips, running her fingers through Tryg's blonde hair and frowning.

"I'm so sorry"

"It's not you, please don't think it was you" she was his best friend what the hell was he going to really say to her? Yeah he wasn't too happy with her husband but she knew that already, she was no idiot.

"Jeffrey…"

"I really think you need to put your foot down with your stepson and I think you need to do it now"

"What do you mean…?" she curled her lips and shook her head worriedly, "What's wrong with Bub? What happened?"

"How about he's fucking taking showers with Connor and obviously fucking the hell out of him"

"Oh god" her hand covered her mouth and she almost fainted.

"Oh I know" his voice rose angrily, "I fucking know Connor thinks it's a fucking game meanwhile the sick bastard is using him for sex"

"I'm going to fucking kill him" she nodded with wide eyes, "I'm going to FUCKING kill him what an IDIOT my GOD!"

"I know" he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I didn't even know what to say I honestly can't deal with your family any longer"

"It's not my family" she said firmly, "It's fucking Bub. I'm going to hang him what is he trying to get himself KILLED?"

"Your husband and Ambie killed my brother, Min!"

"I know and what would you like me to do about that?" she shrugged nastily, "Necromancy?"

"No, no" it was amazing the power Mindy had over men, "please, just hear me out"

"You are upset, I know…"she sighed and ran her fingers through his hair, "but I love you, Jeffrey Nero I do"

"I love you too Min, but I really don't know what to do anymore about him, do I care or do I drop it?"

"For now" she ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "just lie low, okay babyboo?"

"But…"

"We'll go clubbing or somethin', alright?" she sighed and kissed Elizabeth, "I love our dates, we always had fun"

"Min…." he ran a hand through his hair and smiled weakly, "If James wouldn't have my head I'd love to do that"

"Then Jamie can come with us" she nodded with a giggle, "I'll have Jamie bring the Meatsack to keep him busy and-"

"He'll be fingering you at the table he's fucking obnoxious like that-"

"And I LOVE him, Jeffrey Nero just give it a thought and we'll talk more on a fun date, okay? I'll make Meatball keep Jamie extra mad and we'll talk and dance and whatever okay?"

He took a moment and sighed, "Deal."

"Don't you worry about Bub, alright?" she asked gently and waited for his sigh which she took as acceptance, "I'll deal with Bub."

"How so?"

"After my show tonight, I'ma make Jamie drop me off at his house and I'ma kick his fuckin' ass."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

…

"_And I feel you, comin through my veins. Am I into you? Or is the music to blame?"_ Miley Cyrus jumped back on cue and down one of the long stripper poles on stage slid the surprise appearing Mindy Stratus.

She wore the skimpiest lavender open-cup babydoll almost-dress which was completely open over her chest and twisted in the center of her pale glitter-covered torso. Her breasts were barely covered at all, yet her extremely slender torso was visible and her dress was completely sheer, making her lavender thong in view and her knee-high ribbon-tied hooker boots made the audience (and the important people in it) go absolutely insane for their sex icon finally returning. Her hip-length hair was tousled and smoky eye makeup completed the visual for every male and female out there.

"_Who owns my heart? Is it love? Or is it art? Cause the way you got your body movin's got me confused. I can't tell if it's the beat or sparks! Oh! Who owns my heart? Is it love? Or is it art? Y-Y-Y-You know I wanna believe that we're a masterpiece. But sometimes it's hard to tell in the dark. Who owns my heart?" _they both sang and danced together and needless to say James was highly uncomfortable with the way she was dressed.

Yes, he knew she dressed like this for years but that was his wife everyone was gawking at. His darling wife was practically naked dancing on a stripper pole while Miley carried the next verse of her own song and then Mindy hopped back off and stole all eyes as she did her classic hip-dislocating dance moves which made her so famous in the beginning. Her spine bent in unnatural ways and she had an unusually shaped torso which let her belly dance the way she did.

She moved off the pole for the bridge since Miley let her have a solo and had a team of backup dancers and lasers going off in the background as she danced and sang her little heart out, adding an operatic Mindy Stratus twist to the song.

"_So come on baby! Keep provokin' me! Keep on ropin' me! Like a rodeo! Baby pull me close! Come on here we go! Here we go! Here we go!"_

As she went about making James highly uncomfortable and want to wrap her up in a sheet, representitives for both Alexander McQueen and Victoria's Secret were readying contracts and getting her managers on the phone.

The world was begging for yet another dose of Mindy Stratus.


	21. Chapter 21

**NeroAnne**: James is totally on board with that logic. Mindy on the other hand…well when it comes to her self image, anyone who tells her anything she don't already believe for herself either don't know what they're talking about or they're just saying that to be nice. These issues have been on going for many many years and are just refusing to ever go away. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"You were amazing tonight Spaghetti," Phil informed Mindy as James started the car and began to drive away. Before they had left James had handed Mindy some of his clothes to change into, which she happily did. Because of their enormous size difference, his clothes always hung really really loosely on her. But with her added weight loss, they were hanging even more off her than usual. That was not lost on James in the least and he hated it. He absolutely hated it and he was not going to allow her to just waste away in front of him. He knew that she was all for performing again and stuff but it wasn't worth her health. It wasn't worth her health at all.

"Thank you Meatball," Mindy said, smiling back at him before looking at James.

"You stole the show again Baby Doll," he told her, kissing her hand lovingly. He couldn't deny that she could rock a stage like no other. "I think we should go out to eat to celebrate."

Mindy hesitated at the deliberate mention of eating (which didn't sit well with him at all) before nodding her head. "Okay Jamie. But I want to get Connor and talk to Cooper alone."

James's grip on the wheel tightened so much that he just about broke it. "What?" he said in disbelief.

"I know I hate him and all but I have to second that what," Phil said, throwing his two cents in. "You can't talk to that idiot alone. Are you absolutely insane?" The glares that were sent back his way made him wince. "I didn't mean it like that!"

James didn't care how he meant it. The fact of the matter was, Phil was still on his shitlist for daring to spark one of Mindy's schizo episodes. "Shut the fuck up back there," he growled, reaching back and smacking Phil as hard as he could. "I don't want to hear anything from you, you hear me?"

"You're not the boss of-OW!" Phil shrieked in pain as James hit him harder this time.

"I fucking mean it Princess," James growled, not in the mood to be fucked with at all. "I already beat you once don't make me do it again."

Phil huffed loudly and folded his arms over his chest, totally pouting now because James had been mean to him and Mindy wasn't doing anything about it. He had already apologized to Mindy about freaking her out when she had caught him watching her old stuff. He didn't see why he was still being punished for it. The way he saw it, the shit was all over Youtube anyway. Anyone who wanted to watch it could, and they could do it any time they wanted to.

"I won't be long Jamie," Mindy promised, returning the conversation back to the subject of her talking to Cooper alone. "I just want to-"

"No Baby Doll," James said, shaking his head. "Please no. Don't do that, I'm begging you not to do that."

"But Jamie it'll be real quick, I promise. Trust me, nothing bad is going to happen to me in there."

James kept shaking his head. "I trust you but I don't trust him. I'll NEVER trust him again." He cupped Mindy's face in his hand and gave her a pleading look. "You go in there, I'm going in there and I'll fucking kill him. I can't handle the thought of you being alone with him. I don't even want you going to the door to go get Connor. I wanna send Princess Straightedge to do it. I don't care if Cooper rapes him."

"Thanks you fuck!" Phil snapped, breaking his silence out of anger.

Mindy shook her head and leaned over so she could snuggle with James as much as she could while he drove. The yelling they had done before was weighing heavily on her mind and she couldn't stand it. She never ever wanted James to be upset with her and he clearly had been beyond upset during the yelling, so she was going to go along with what he said and not talk to Cooper tonight. She wasn't thrilled about having to wait because she had promised Jeff she would get after Cooper but keeping James happy was the bigger priority at the moment. And as long as Connor was home and not with Cooper anymore, it wouldn't be like Cooper would be able to do anything to him again.

James hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. The fight (even though he refused to verbally call it that) they had earlier was making him guilty as fuck and he did not want to ever do that again if he could ever help it. But even if she wanted to see Cooper alone he couldn't allow that. He didn't like telling her what to do because she was his partner and his equal but when it came to that he had to make an exception. He had to think of her safety before anything else and he didn't trust Cooper around her at all. She maybe didn't like it and maybe she forgave Cooper but there was just too much to risk by letting her get her way on this. It killed him to know Cooper had even hurt her the first time so the thought of it happening a second time was just way more than he could possibly handle.

When James pulled into Cooper's driveway, he glared back and Phil and jerked his head in the direction of the house. "Go in there and get Connor," he ordered. "And don't let him bully you into giving him more time to stay. He needs to get his ass out here right now because if he don't, I'm coming in there and getting him. And trust me, that won't be pretty."

Phil made a face and shook his head. "So first I'm your dog and now I'm your slave? Dude, that is just not cool on SO many levels."

"Dude, you better not keep lipping off to me or we're going to have a very serious problem," James growled, hitting Phil once again just for the hell of it. "You hear me?"

Phil gave James one very unhappy look before getting out of the car and heading towards the door. Mindy shook her head and looked up at James and sighed. "You're too hard on Meatsack," she informed him. "He didn't mean to hurt me. You don't have to be so mean to him still."

"But it's funny," he pointed out. "Besides, if I'm not mean to him, who will be?"

"You could try to be a little bit nicer," Mindy pointed out.

"I could but adversity builds character. I'm helping him in the long run Baby Doll." He smiled and showed off his pointy canines to her, which made her melt right on the spot.

"You're so nice Jamie," she said, nodding and running her fingers through his hair.

"I am, aren't I?" James grinned mischievously before tickling her stomach, making her howl with laughter.

…

Cooper's lips were fused with Connor's, his kisses becoming more and more frantic as he thrusted faster and faster. The only sound in the room was his heavy breathing and Connor's frantic whimpers. The world around them had fallen away and they were both stuck in that moment, with the want and the need and the frantic need for release that Connor didn't really understand and Cooper needed because in that moment of ecstasy, everything was perfect again. Sure it didn't last very long but for the time it lasted, it was well worth it.

"Coopy," Connor whimpered, clinging to Cooper and digging his fingers into the skin on Cooper's back (he bit his fingernails all the time so he never really had any to scratch anyone with).

Cooper deepened his kisses, wrapping his hand around Connor's cock and bringing them both to climax within seconds. And just like every other time before, there was the utter bliss and the perfection…and then once he collapsed, limbs weak and shaky, reality set back in. And it sucked big time.

"Coopy?"

"Huh?" Cooper said, closing his eyes so he could go to sleep on top of Connor.

"I heard a banging noise."

Cooper frowned and opened his eyes back up, listening carefully until he heard the knocking on the door too. "Shit," he said under his breath. He reluctantly got up and went to the window, gulping nervously as he saw James's car parked in the driveway. "Oh fuck me," he said under his breath.

Connor perked up. "I get to be on top now?"

"No!" Cooper snapped. "Dad's here."

Connor's face fell. "What does he want?"

"Probably for you to come home." Cooper quickly tossed Connor his clothes before getting dressed himself.

"But I don't wanna go Coopy!" Connor whined. He tossed the clothes back on the floor and shook his head. "I wanna stay with you!"

"And believe me, I want you to stay too. But that's something you'll have to take up with Dad." Cooper once again threw the clothes back to Connor and this time would not let him do anything with them but put them on. "Now you remember what you're not supposed to do?"

"Tell anybody about what we do," Connor answered dutifully. In the moments they were not fucking Cooper was drilling it into Connor's head to keep his mouth shut about their activities. "I know not to do it Coopy I'm not stupid."

"I know but I gotta make sure you don't tell by accident." Cooper opened the door and jerked his head so Connor would get up to follow. Connor reluctantly did what was wanted of him and the both of them went downstairs, both of them expecting it to be either James or Mindy at the door. It was Phil though and Connor decided to get in Phil's face and start with the demanding.

"Go ask Daddy if I can stay longer! I wanna stay longer! I don't want to go home yet!"

Phil shook his head, getting more peeved off than he already was. "First of all, I'm not your slave. Second of all, you don't even need to be here in the first place. Your parents don't want you here at all."

Connor made a face and kicked Phil in the shin before pushing him out of the way. "Daddy! I wanna stay longer!"

"Mother fucker…" Phil hopped up and down on one foot while clutching his shin, giving Cooper a dirty look as he chuckled. "What the fuck are you laughing at?"

"You," Cooper replied honestly while getting a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it up.

Phil scowled and shook his head. "Fuck you you fucking rapist."

Cooper stiffened at the comment but he kept his poker face as much as he could. He just inhaled and then exhaled the smoke, making sure it all went in Phil's face. Phil jumped back, coughing and sputtering and Cooper leaned back against the wall, listening to the screaming match that had started between James and Connor because James wouldn't let him stay longer.

…

"Connor baby please don't be sad," Mindy pleaded with the pouting Connor as the waitress served them all their food. They were at a late night diner once again and Connor was sitting next to Phil, arms folded over his chest and his head down in a pout. James had absolutely refused to let Connor stay at Cooper's any longer and Connor had not liked that at all. He had screamed and cried and pleaded to get his way but he had lost. So now he was pouting and not talking to James, which was not going over very well with the crowd in front of him. "Please don't be sad we missed you so much."

"I wanted to stay," Connor said, not giving up his pout without a fight. "Its not fair Mommy, I wanted to stay!"

"You were there long enough," James said shortly. He wrapped his arms around Mindy and hugged her tightly while shaking his head at Connor. "You're lucky that you were there as long as you were. I don't even want you there at all-"

"Of course you don't," Connor said, getting snippy because he was mad. "Because you're MEAN!" The few people that were at the diner at this time all turned to look at him but he didn't care. He just balled up his fists and nailed Phil in the side of his head with his fists.

"OW!" Phil shrieked, recoiling in pain. "Mother fucker! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Connor!" Mindy scolded, reaching over and grabbing Connor's wrists before he could hit Phil again. "That wasn't nice."

"Although it was kind of funny," James said with a shrug. "Princess Straightedge makes a good punching bag."

"No I don't!" Phil shrieked, glaring daggers at James. "Stop encouraging this you asshole!"

"Make me Princess."

Mindy shook her head and ignored the bickering boys as she kept her attention on Connor. Jeff had told her about Cooper and Connor's activities and she could pretty much smell Cooper on Connor (and if James could he was chalking it up to the fact that Connor was actually wearing one of Cooper's shirts), which just did not set well with her at all. "What did you and Cooper do honey?" she asked, trying to interrogate him as discreetly as possible.

"Stuff," Connor replied.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff!"

James glared at Connor for snapping at Mindy. "Could you be more specific?"

Connor sighed loudly. "We played games-"

"What kind of games?" Mindy quickly asked.

"Candyland, video games and Coopy tried to teach me how to play poker but it didn't work because I kept cheating."

James snorted and shook his head. "Of course…why are you wearing one of his shirts?"

"Mine gotted dirty and muddy and ripped when I was playing in the backyard so we just threw it away," Connor answered. The truth actually was that it had accidentally gotten ripped during one of the sex sessions with Cooper but he wasn't about to admit that. He was smarter than that.

Mindy and James exchanged looks. Both of their bullshit detectors were going off and Connor knew it. "What?" he whined, stomping his foot and attracting even more attention to them. "You still don't believe me? Why don't you ever believe me?"

"Connor we never said-"

"You would believe me if I was one of the stupid babies!" Connor snapped, glaring at James hatefully.

James shook his head and glared back at Connor. "Don't start on that again. The babies are not stupid and I do believe you about stuff."

"You don't wanna believe me now though. You just wanna believe that Coopy is bad." Connor shook his head defiantly, not about to change his mind on the subject of Cooper. He had definitely inherited James's stubborn nature, there was no denying that. "Coopy's good. Coopy loves me and he's good and stop making that face Daddy! That is mean!"

Mindy patted James's hands and tried to wiggle out of his grasp. "Maybe I should talk to Connor alone. I don't want you two to fight again."

Phil snorted loudly. "I wouldn't do that Spaghetti. He's been spending so much time with Cooper there's no telling what he would do if he got you alone."

That was not a good thing to say because it got him kicked in the shins by James and Connor snapped on him because he couldn't truly snap against James and get anywhere with him. He grabbed Phil by the back of the neck and yanked him up to his feet, completely ignoring Mindy's screams as he bashed his head into the diner window before storming off to go pout in the car.


	22. Chapter 22

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **EternalxInsanity**: Aw it's okay. It happens sometimes. And lol...fun note: in Vermi's story Raze Mindy and Miley do a collaboration together. Just throwing that out there. And we're glad you enjoyed it and yes, yes he is. He's the Lawson family bitch. Not a role he enjoys but somebody has to do it. **NeroAnne**: Yeah, Phil's a dick like that. He don't exactly appreciate the Lawsons' treatement of him so he's lashing out. And it's always fun when those two are playful. They're just too cute.

...

Like a worried parent Mindy hovered over Phil as a surgeon stapled his bleeding head together and he yelped with each and every insertion. His hand was clenched tightly in hers and James stood in the waiting room with Connor, not even bothering to prepare him for the storm coming his way.

Of all Mindy's friends which one could fuck with, Phil was the last one anyone should try anything with. He'd been tagging along with Mindy for so many years he was practically her brother. Connor was better off whacking Tiffany she and Phil were so unbelievably tight, and she was crying in the emergency room as they stapled his head together.

"Are you okay, Meatball? Do you feel any pain?" her hands gingerly ran over the tops of his as he sat on the table and with a deep breath he looked at her in the eye.

He could yell and blame everything on her and her choice in men, but it wasn't James who did it this time, though next time who knew. By palling around with her he was literally putting his life on the line but he didn't care. Mindy was his best friend whether anyone liked it or not, and he knew that wouldn't be changed by anyone. Even James accommodated by making him the resident dog/slave (depending on his mood).

"Its…" he winced at the staples in his head and shrugged, taking her hand and squeezing it tight in his, "its fucking bullshit that little son of a bitch gets rewarded for smashing my head in the window. He's lucky I'm not dead or getting a lawyer-"

"Meatball…" she frowned and shook her head, "my Jamie did not reward him"

"Of course he is, are you nuts?" he caught the evil eye she shot him and kissed her cheek, "You know what I mean…"

"I love you, Meatball-sandwich" she nodded and rested her head on his arm, giggling as he pinned her little fingers to the table with his, "You know how we do"

"Indeed" he nodded with a grimace before running a hand through his short brown hair, "but obviously your taste in men and their psychotic semi-retarded inbred children is a little off…" she grew quiet and he knew why, "no offense…I mean" he shrugged, "That thing's not your kid"

"He's my stepson though and I have an Autistic daughter…" she reminded him sternly, "I have paranoid schizophrenia"

"You're not criminally insane"

She nodded along to that a bit before wrapping an arm around his torso and nestling into his chest, "My Jamie and I had a bad bad fight"

"Divorce papers I hope?" he leaned away because her fist lazily shot into the air to smack him before taking her hand and unclenching it.

"No, ya shit" she glared at him before shaking her head and staring lovingly at her wedding rings, "never."

"Awww" his head hung and he pouted a bit playfully, "Damn it."

"You really are my best friend" her gentle whispers snagged his attention and zoned him in on her even more than he already was, "What you're doing means a lot to me, you do not have to live with us like this"

"And what?" he shrugged, "leave you alone with those monsters?"

"Those 'monsters' are my stepsons and husband-"

"Two which RAPED you, and-"

"THAT WAS NOT MY JAMIE THAT WAS MOMMY"

"I GET that" he rolled his eyes before gently reaching up to run his fingers through her hair, "But seriously you're just digging one hole bigger than the next. You've got that sycophantic, obsequious, cold-blooded, bottom-feeding lunatic you call a husband-"

SMACK!

"ANYONE but him…!" she growled like a lioness and then smoothed his straight short hair, "Not my Jamie, please not my Jamie nothing can-"

"Yeah yeah, forever and for always yadda yadda, I get it" he rolled his eyes until out the corner of his eye he caught her beaming and shook his head knowingly, "You are bar-none the biggest fucking weirdo aside from myself"

"To the Batmobile!" she joked and made his smile get ten times wider, obviously some form of inside joke they didn't feel like sharing with anyone.

"Exactly…" he melted at the look on her face before swiping off that bewitched expression he wore and stiffening uncomfortably, "you're a fucking creep"

"And you love me" she poked her tongue between her teeth before hugging his arm, watching him nod before holding her back and sighing.

"Why else would I be putting myself through absolute fucking goat hell-"

"Goat hell?" her brow furrowed and her lips pouted.

"Goat hell" he nodded with a raised index finger, "It's the worst kind…"

"I see…" she nodded, fascinated, and it was too cute for him to look away.

"I love you, Spaghetti-monster" one of his hands reached up and wove into her hair affectionately, "I'm only looking out for you as someone who would lay down on a track if you asked"

"And you think my Jamie would not?" she raised an eyebrow and he slapped the table and stared at her.

"Personally I don't give a crap what he would do for you, alright?" he snipped in her face and she shrank back, a bit frightened at the sudden harsh tone, "You know I never stopped fucking loving you so don't sit there bragging and rubbing him in my face like he's some sort of fucking Adonis when"

"I love him, Meatball he's my HUSBAND"

"So was Kane" he shrugged apathetically, "You sure let him have it nice"

"Excuse me?" she raised her eyebrows incredulously and shook her head at him, "What are we getting at here?"

"Don't kid yourself, Spaghetti, you're no Holly Homemaker and you know it"

"I love him, Meatball, and I will not say it again without hurting you"

"Don't worry" he raised a hand and dropped his eyes to the floor, "You've done that enough over the years"

"Excuse me?"

"Spaghetti…" he sighed impatiently and grabbed her chin, "look at us…look where we wound up on account of all this bullshit with-"

"I'll YELL at Connor, alright?"

"He gets it from somewhere"

"Not my Jamie" she shook her head in denial and held her hands over her ears, "my perfect Jamie would not smash your face because that would make me sad."

"Fucking bitch" he ripped her hands off her ears and kissed her hard on the lips, patting her cheek and slipping off the bench at how wide her eyes got. As he stood and left the room she stared like she'd seen Big Show naked for a moment before turning and licking the paper on the medical table to get the taste out of her mouth.

"UGH! YOU TASTE LIKE JEW!" she shrieked and stopped the moment she threw up in her mouth at the thought when his voice crept in from the hallway.

"SHALOM, bitch!"

…

James was sitting with Connor in the waiting room uncharacteristically quiet when after a moment of lingering in the doorway, Mindy trudged in holding a little brown bag and a red Mountain Dew. Connor kept his eyes on the floor because neither James nor Mindy were really talking to him, and Phil stood in the hallway all bandaged up and ready to go home, obviously pissed off as as hell. James drummed his fingers on the chair when Mindy plopped into his lap and made his entire face light up, a huge kiss was placed on his cheek before he lifted his eyes and rubbed noses with her.

"Ready?" he asked with slightly raised eyebrows and she nodded, holding up the soda and little brown bag, "You got food, Baby Doll?"

"For YOU" she nodded and gave him a big kiss on the lips, giggling as he kissed her back and weaving her fingers in his hair.

"Me?" he frowned and seemed almost reluctant to take it from her, "What about you?"

"Meh" waving it off she tugged at his hair and dipped his head back to lay a series of sensual kisses on him, "I got my midnight snack right here" her finger trailed along his pointy teeth as he smiled and another kiss was placed on him.

"I'd like to make a meal out of you as well, Miss" he poked her nose and they grinned at the other before kissing again, "What'd you get in there anyway?"

He tried to see inside the bag when she yanked it away and shook her head, taking his hand and giving him the soda before helping him up.

"You get treats while I rip Connor a new one"

Connor immediately froze at that, unknown to his parents who were too busy groping the other and kissing on their way out. Phil stared daggers at James as he left with Mindy, which wasn't lost on the Lawson patriarch at all. Lucky for Phil, James was too wrapped up in his young wife to really do anything about it.

…

Upon entering the house, James immediately grabbed Elizabeth from Tiffany so she could go to bed and stood in the kitchen cradling his infant daughter. She started fussing so he set his bag of food Mindy bought him down in exchange for a bottle, which he wouldn't let her hold herself and paced the floor with her. Mindy watched in pure adulation when Phil wordlessly went up to bed and Connor started too, which she immediately caught and popped her weight to the right.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The very way she said that made Connor narrow his eyes and shortly reply, "Bed."

"Think again" James spoke up in his wife's defense and pointed to the floor in the kitchen, "You get your ass in here when your mother is speaking"

"Thank you, Jamie" she squeezed his hand and pointed to the food she got him, making sure he realized he had food to eat before watching Connor reluctantly drag himself into the kitchen.

"Spike and Snoopy miss me!"

"Spike and Snoopy will have to wait" Mindy began sharply, "because their owner decided to be an ASSHOLE and RAM MY BEST FRIEND'S HEAD INTO A FUCKING WINDOW!"

"Nobody likes Princess Straightedge!" Connor whined, which was the wrong argument to take with Mindy and she placed her little hands on her hips.

"I DO! Does that mean fucking nothing to you, Connor? He's my best god damn friend how DARE you-"

"He-"

"How DARE you-"

"He-"

"Interrupt your mother again and Spike's for dinner tomorrow night" James nodded ominously and Connor practically hit the ceiling.

"HEY! YOU can't-"

"The hell we can" James nodded and placed an arm around Mindy's waist before kissing her cheek, "You listen to your mother when she's talking otherwise your goat's going to find himself in quite the sticky situation"

"In a glaze" Mindy nodded before grabbing James's butt and giving him a long kiss, "I love you"

"I'm saving for you" he held up the brown bag and watched her nod, "I know you want this shit"

"I do" she nodded with a giggle as one of his hands ran over her chest, "I expect you to be waiting for me"

"I've been waiting all damn day" he nodded with a kiss to her neck and gave Connor a glare before kissing his daughter and taking Mindy's hand lovingly, "Call me if you need anything, alright?"

She took a moment before nodding and blowing him a kiss, "I love you."

"I love you more."

He shut Connor out with a bit of a glare before leaving, making Mindy and Connor alone in the kitchen and she growled.

"What the FUCK has gotten into you?" she demanded, swinging right into it, "Meatball's an ass, you KNOW he's an ass why are you freakin' out when everything he says can be pushed to the side?"

"He was mean to Coopy" he pouted his lips when she growled and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I don't care WHAT he says he's my best fucking friend he's like my brother! I never haded a brother like you, okay? I have him! And YES, everybody makes fun of him, whatever…" she shrugged, "I do not care so much…but SMASHING HIS FUCKING HEAD? ARE YOU INSANE?"

"He called Coopy names, Mommy!"

"HE WAS LOOKING OUT FOR ME! Something YOU have never ever fucking done, that's for sure!"

"You let Daddy be mean to my Coopy because-"

"He's MY Cooper too, Connor! And he fucked up BIG TIME! He RAPED me! And I forgave him because that's how we roll," she shrugged, "but you can NOT hurt Meatball for sticking up for me as my bestest friend-"

"I thought DADDY was-"

"Daddy is my LIFE" she corrected, "I can have friends outside Daddy"

"You have the stupid midgets"

"My CHILDREN" she corrected coldly, "They're BABIES, Connor! You're not a baby! You're a big fucking boy acting like a big baby right now because you think its okay just to smash Meatball's face through a window! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM! YOU COULD HAVE FUCKING KILLED HIM!"

"I don't care" he folded his arms across his chest and shrugged, making her growl and shake her head.

"Of course you do not care. The situation does not involve YOU of course you do not care! You are the most selfish boy I have ever seen!"

"Thank you" he nodded at her when she slapped a hand to her face and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Connor?" she growled before shaking her head, "Stop it. Fucking stop it, alright? Meatball means a HELL of a lot to ME even though I know you do not care! He was getting at something, wasn't he?" she placed a hand on her hip and popped her weight to the right, "That's why you attacked him-"

"NOPE!" immediately Cooper's words rushed to his head about not telling anyone and he shook his head, clearly lying in her eyes.

"BULLSHIT Connor! Jeffrey Nero told me you fucking showered together don't you DARE lie to me or I'll roast your fucking goat!"

"YES!" was all he shouted and tried to search for Spike, but she dug her nails in his arm and her strength was what scared Connor the most. For such a tiny thing she was tough as nails.

"Yes WHAT, Connor Michael?" she prompted further with a wave of the hand, "What are we 'yes'-ing to?"

"You…" his lips pouted and he nodded, "You were right you were right."

"Of course I'm fucking right, I already knew it!"

"Are you gonna eat Spike now?" he panicked when she shook her head and kissed his forehead.

"I am sorry I hurted you" she kissed his arm and shook her head with a sigh, "but you do not understand how bad this is you HAVE to stop fucking Bub! When Daddy finds out-"

"Daddy doesn't know"

"You think this is a big fucking secret?" she raised her eyebrows and snorted, "You better hope Jeffrey Nero does not tell what he knows to Daddy. I will not because I love you boys, but Jeffrey Nero does not love either of you" she warned him while starting for the stairs, "and as punishment you must be Meatball's slave for a week"

"WHAT?"

…

"I can't believe you did that…" James snickered while running his fingers through Mindy's hair as he lay over her in bed and they kissed, "you really baited Connor into being Princess Straightedge's personal bitch for a week?"

"Yes" she nodded stiffly with a loud exhale as James continued his rhythmic pelvic movements inside her, "I yelled and screamed and saided he had to"

"Baby Doll…" he smiled fondly before catching his breath a moment, leaning down and kissing her more. Their tongues moved into the other's mouth once more and her hand dug into his hair happily, keeping her legs so hooked around his waist there was not a single gap of air between their bodies.

"I love you, Jamie…!" she whimpered as he slowed himself down dramatically, knowing she went crazy when he did it gently. It made him tingly to do it this way sometimes too, they both lasted much longer despite how torturous the snail's pace felt. "And I…" she tried to speak but his hot flesh felt so good inside her she couldn't say an English sentence, "I…"

"Could never fuck anybody else" he filled in the gap quite nicely, keeping his mouth glued to hers and nodding along to his own statement, "I couldn't either, Baby Doll, you see I've been spoiled with how fucking tight and wet you are for me"

"Only for you" she poked his nose and giggled, "I love you, Jamie forever and ever"

"Swimming lesson number two tomorrow, Baby Doll" he nodded and nuzzled her neck, "Since our last one was so productive"

"Can we have sex in the water until we get all pruney and stuff?"

"I couldn't have devised a better lesson plan" he grinned and kissed her, stroking the hollow of her throat and absolutely loving her hands on his body.

"Jamie…"

"Don't be upset" he panted, sliding a gentle hand down her face and shaking his head, "We didn't fight, stop dwelling on it we've never fought before"

"Are you sure?" she asked skeptically, tears filling her eyes as she clung to his chest and cried loudly, "Because I LOVE you, Jamie, I do! More than anyone I am so sorry, darling, I love you I-"

"Shhhh…" beginning to move a bit faster he nodded and nuzzled her neck as hard as he could, "We never fought, okay? Never ever"

"But JAMIE!"

"Shhh" chuckling lowly he stroked her face and they kissed passionately, "stop freaking out, Baby Doll! You'll wake the Lizzie Bear" he glanced at their baby asleep in her bassinet next to the bed and she craned her neck to see it, tears coming out again and she cried into his chest.

"Is she real?"

"Yes…"

"Just checkin'."

…

Cooper was attempting to maybe cook himself breakfast when the doorbell rang. He wasn't aware of any visitors, which could be one of many good or bad things. It could have been Connor, yet seeing the state James was in last night he knew things weren't good. Jeff wasn't speaking to him, Phil was at home he'd have no business being there…the last thought made him fly to the door and it opened up to reveal a highly peeved Mindy standing in the doorway.

"Momma!" he lunged for her in delight when her hand swung forwards.

SLAP!

His ice-blue eyes widened in astonishment when she grabbed him by the shirt and slammed his back to the wall, kicking the door shut behind her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Momma, I-"

"I WARNED YOU!" she screamed at him and beat her little fists against his chest, freaking him the hell out.

"Momma, no-"

"I FUCKING BEGGED YOU TO STOP!"

Stop…his face went white and frantically he shook his head and grabbed her arms.

"Momma, no! I-"

"NO!"

SLAP!

"Don't you fucking 'Momma' me now!" she didn't even care how his eyes looked like someone stabbed him in the windpipe, "Because if you REALLY saw me that way you'd fucking listen when I BEG YOU not to fucking touch your god damn brother!"

"I couldn't" he stopped himself and gulped, "What, how-"

"Your ex is MY ex too, shithead!" she screamed and smacked him harder across the face, emotionally tearing him up and he held himself as not to cry, but his eyes were so red and swollen at this point he didn't want her hitting him anymore, "If HE fucking knows you're fucking your own brother what do you think Daddy will do?"

"He was fine with it before"

"You think he'll accept that shit now?" her eyes widened pointedly and his eyes dropped, so she snared his chin and growled.

"You fucking look me in the eye when I talk to you!"

"I am, Mommy, please, Momma I-"

"What…" she ran a hand through her hair and clenched her teeth, "Do you just WANT Daddy to come in here and kill you at this point?"

"Momma…" he whimpered and couldn't respond, making her eyes widen with dread and she slapped him again and grabbed his hair with barred teeth.

"You fucking leave me I'll dig you the fuck up and cook your god damn bones over a god damn campfire, you understand me?"

"What does it matter, Momma? Connor-"

"Is your fucking brother! Incest is WRONG! It's fucking WRONG it is! HUMAN PEOPLE are PROGRAMMED not to like people who are like us because it is WRONG! STOP IT!"

"Well who else do I have, huh?" he yelled at her and shook his head tearfully, "YOU?"

"YEAH!" she shoved him back against the wall, "You fucking know that"

"You have DAD don't even-"

"What part of 'I'm in love with you' is going over your head?"

"Oh yeah?" he raised his eyebrows, "How's Dad handling that?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, bastard" she grumbled before shaking her head and staring at him with pure disgust, "I made you promise me and you LIED you did! I TRIEDED to tell you to stop but you do not listen because you DON'T love me! You don't you don't you don't-"

"I DO!" he lunged forwards and buried his face into her neck, "I do, I do, I fucking do, Momma please! Don't go away, Momma, don't go back to him don't leave me alone!"

"I want you to stay the fuck away from Connor when you know Daddy will kill you-"

"-Mommy I can't possibly-"

"AND I CANNOT STOP HIM!" she shrieked with a stamp of her foot, "I WILL NOT STOP HIM! I WARNED YOU! I'm fucking warning you again! Daddy is GOING to fucking kill you! He'll do it I SWEAR he will!"

"Momma…" the soft vulnerability in his eyes made her cry twice as hard and hug him so tight he broke down in her arms and sank to the floor with her in his lap, and she didn't feel right. "You're too thin, Momma…"

"Stop" she bopped his nose and brushed his dark hair from his eyes, "not you too"

"I don't want anything to happen to you, Momma, you'll get sick" he nodded and snuggled against her as hard as he could, "You can't go away from me I'm done if you do, please stay with me please…I can't do anything right I fucking suck"

"Shhh…" she shook her head and gave the tip of his nose a kiss, their foreheads pressing as her arms hooked around his neck and they looked the other in the eye for a tense moment, Mindy finally moving off him and taking his hand, "what do you want for breakfast before ya burn the house down?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Glad you liked it : )

…

Cooper watched as Mindy cooked him pancakes, getting out plates and silverware as he did so. "So Jeff was the one who told you?" he said, knowing he probably shouldn't be going down this road but he had to. He was a glutton for punishment like that.

Mindy nodded. "He tolded me after we talked about Jamie killing Matt."

Cooper's eyes widened. "Wait what? Dad killed Matt? Why?" Personally Cooper didn't care that Matt was dead. The elder Hardy had been nothing to an asshole to him the few times they had encountered each other but still, that was Jeff's brother. Jeff had to be seriously hurting and the very thought of it made Cooper's chest ache terribly.

"Matt basically called me a dog," Mindy answered without looking up from her cooking. "So he and Amber killed him real nice."

Cooper nodded, approving of that very much. He would have done the same thing if he had known about that shit sooner. "Good. He deserved it."

"Jeffrey Nero is upset though," Mindy said. She finished cooking the pancakes and began piling them on his plate. "I tolded him to lay low because I don't want him crossing Daddy the wrong way. Daddy don't care that he killed Matt and I don't want Jeffrey Nero to get on his bad side by mistake."

Cooper shuddered, knowing just how horrible of a thing that was to do. "Well fuck…Dad likes Jeff though, doesn't he? Can't he just cut Jeff a break and let him be upset about his brother being dead?"

"Daddy never said Jeffrey Nero couldn't be upset," Mindy said with a shake of her head. She put the pan on the back of the stove and sat down next to Cooper. "He just doesn't want Jeffrey Nero to try to do anything about it. Ambieloo was with him so of course he's going to be even more careful than he usually is. He doesn't want anything to happen to her."

Cooper could have pointed out that it was probably not the wisest decision to even take a six year old hunting but he decided to not even go there. Instead he grabbed the other plate he had gotten out and piled half of his pancakes on to it and shoved them towards her. "Eat."

Mindy shook her head and shoved the plate back towards him. "No."

"Yes," he insisted. He pushed the plate towards her again. "You're too thin-"

She sighed dramatically and gave him the evil eye. "I am NOT! Don't start that shit with me too. Jamie's up my ass already because he thinks the same thing."

"Yeah well he's right," Cooper said. "You don't look healthy, so eat!" His eyes softened when she refused to touch the food in front of him. "Momma please-"

"I made them for you," Mindy reminded him. "Remember? You wanted pancakes so you have them!"

"Yeah but I'm not eating if you don't eat." He pushed his own plate away and folded his arms over his chest defiantly. He meant it too. He didn't care how hungry he was; he wasn't about to eat unless she did. He didn't like the weight loss on her. He knew that was not a good thing because of her past history of eating disorders and self image issues so he wanted to try to make it stop before it got too bad.

Mindy rolled her eyes and grabbed a fork so she could start digging in. "There! Are you happy now? Huh? You happy now Bub?"

"I'm ecstatic," he replied. He pulled his plate back towards him and began to eat. "Thank you Momma."

She just rolled her eyes again. "You're lucky I love you Bub. I hope you know that."

"I do," he confirmed. "Believe me, I know I do."

They ate in silence for a little bit, Cooper devouring every crumb on his plate because he missed her cooking so much. When he was done, he leaned back in his chair and gave her a sad look. "Momma I know you're mad about me and Connor-"

Mindy slapped his arm and shook her head. "Don't you dare do it Bub. Don't you dare try to justify that to me right now. That's wrong and you know its wrong!"

"Momma please-"

"No! I told you no and you LIED to me!"

Cooper looked down at his lap and shook his head. He hadn't meant to do that. He had just needed Connor so badly because he had been the one who had not only been around, but willing to help him. "Momma I'm sorry!" he said, giving her a desperate look because he couldn't stand the thought of her mad at him. "I'm sorry, I really am! Please Momma, don't hate me."

Mindy's expression softened and she shook her head vehemently. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you. But Daddy-"

"Won't find out-"

"He could!" Mindy snapped. "I know you and Connor won't tell him and I wont' tell him either but what about Jeff? Have you even thought about him? He could tell Daddy and then you are FUCKED! Absolutely FUCKED!"

Cooper knew that but he kept shaking his head anyway. "Why would Jeff even talk to Dad at this point though? I mean, his brother just got offed by him! Who said he would even want anything to do with Dad even more?"

"But he COULD tell him Bub!" Mindy said impatiently. "He could do it and what are you going to do then? You'll be FUCKED big time!"

Cooper gulped nervously. "Can't you talk to Jeff Momma and keep him from saying anything. He'll listen to you."

"I'll try," Mindy promised, running her fingers through Cooper's hair and nodding. "But you better fucking stop this shit with Connor, you hear me? You know you can't be doing that."

Cooper sighed and looked down in defeat. "Does Connor know you know?"

"Yes. He lied as best as he could but I knew and I threatened to cook Spike to get him to finally admit it."

"Don't you think that was kind of mean?"

"Hey he's lucky I left that at a threat. He smashed Meatball's head into a window for him saying shit about you so now he has to be Meatball's slave for a week."

Cooper raised his eyebrows but refrained from saying anything. He personally found Phil annoying and didn't give a shit if Connor had hurt him, but he knew how Mindy felt about the guy so Connor was lucky to not have gotten skinned alive. But he also knew that if Phil was already on Connor's bad side, the shit was only going to get worse. Momma might have just signed the princess's death certificate. I hope she realizes that.

…

Phi walked back and forth in front of Connor, smirking triumphantly at the petulant look on the younger man's face. Mindy had made sure he had been aware of Connor's punishment and he was absolutely, positively, gleeful about it. It was no secret that he hated all three Lawsons. In his opinion, the psychopathic family was the worst thing that could have happened to Mindy (of course he was biased as fuck about the situation but he didn't give a shit). And since he really couldn't have at it with James because Mindy would rip his head off, he was going to take full advantage of the situation and take out his frustrations on Connor.

"So…you're my slave for a week," Phil said, rubbing his hands together chuckling. "Sucks to be you doesn't it? Although, I have to say, it is poetic justice. You try to decapitate me with a window full of glass and now you're going to be my bitch. Life's funny like that, isn't it?"

Connor didn't say anything. Phil assumed it was because he had been sufficiently cowed by Mindy into being silent, but actually it wasn't that at all. A silent Connor was a plotting Connor. Now Phil assumed Connor was dumb as a fucking post but he really wasn't. He did have a brain and his brain told him that he had to get himself out of this situation. But he had to do it carefully. Mindy was still pissed at him for hurting Phil even though he deserved it so he couldn't just refuse to go along with the punishment. He was on her shit list so he had to tread very very carefully.

Phil's grin got bigger and he pointed towards his room. "You see that mess in there? It needs cleaned. The stuff needs picked up, the floor needs vacuumed and the walls need scrubbed. And when you're done with that, I think this will be a good day for me to be fed Pepsi and get a foot massage while I read my Batman comics."

Connor tilted his head to the side, just staring at Phil in disbelief. Foot massage? Cleaning? What the hell was this crap? No, this was not going to be put up with. He would rather be Amber's slave for all eternity than put up with this. Phil had to go down and he had to go down now.

"Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" Phil asked obnoxiously, actually getting right in Connor's face and knocking on his head like he thought it was going to be hollow or something. "Huh? Hello? Is anyone in there? Come on shithead, we don't have all day!"

Connor scowled and moved his head back angrily. "I hear you you dirty infidel," he said.

Phil raised his eyebrows. "That's not a very nice way for a slave to talk to his master."

"Yeah yeah whatever," Connor said dismissively. He stepped away from Phil and went into his room so he could begin the cleaning process. He HATED cleaning with a fiery passion and the fact that Phil was making him do it made him really really hate him. This meant Phil was a dirty dirty infidel and Connor did not tolerate dirty dirty infidels. That wasn't how he rolled. How he rolled was making infidels pay and when he got his way, Princess Straightedge was going to wish he had never been born.

…

"Wow," Tiffany said as she watched James at work in the kitchen. She had been looking to get herself and Scarlett some juice to drink and she had stumbled upon James baking up a storm while Elizabeth ate in her high chair and Chelsea sat at his feet. "And they say you're terrible at cooking."

"Technically this is baking," he corrected as he finished mixing up the batter. He was making red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for Mindy because he knew she loved them. "And there's no guarantee that these will come out good. I'm better than I was but I'm not fucking Baby Doll in here."

"Well you're not half bad Chef Jamester," Tiffany assured him. She knew he watched Mindy cook all the time so he had been learning from the best. "And she'll love this, I know she will."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. She's unnaturally biased towards you. You could feed her worms and she would think it was the greatest thing ever."

"Hell as long as she ate and they didn't hurt her, I would let her do that if she wanted to." James shook his head unhappily. "She's got herself believing she's fucking fat when she's really as thing as a damn rail and it doesn't feel like anything I say makes a difference."

Tiffany nodded sympathetically. "I feel your pain. We would have an easier time telling a wall it isn't fat."

"I'll tell you what it is," James said, switching into a rant because the situation scared and frustrated the hell out of him. "Its that fucking bullshit media that fucking acts like she's the god damn anti-Christ every time she's not a stick figure fucking Barbie. She fucking tires to live up to their standards and its not fucking right! They're fucking gonna make her fucking kill herself just to please them!"

"I know-"

"And I'm not going to put up with it! Fuck that shit! Fuck them! I'll fucking shove my foot in all their asses!" James kicked the cupboard and almost put a hole in it, which startled Chelsea and Elizabeth. "If this comeback is going to fucking do this to her then this stupid fame train is stopping right in its tracks. I fucking mean it."

Tiffany didn't even bother to say anything. Now was not the time for words. She simply picked up Chelsea and tried to soothe James by rubbing his back. She knew both James and Mindy pretty well at this point but she felt like the outward affection James and Mindy always showed each other didn't even compare to just how deep their love for each other truly ran. And that was a pretty powerful thing to say, because they made it known to everyone they could that they were absolutely batshit crazy about each other. And she knew that if this was hurting him as much as she thought it was, it was probably hurting him a hundred times more than that. "Are you going to talk to Mindy about retiring for good?"

"I already brought it up once," James said quietly. "And I'll do it again if I have to. I know she's not going to like it but what else can I do?"

"You just have to do what you think is best," Tiffany said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "That's all you can do Jamester. That's all anyone can ask you to do."

…

Connor was fucking beyond miserable now. He had cleaned Phil's room (Phil had intentionally made as disgusting as a mess as he could just to get under Connor's skin) and had fucking gone along with everything else Phil had wanted but it still wasn't enough. In fact, the bastard was just getting worse and worse by the minute. The power had gone straight to his head and he was getting more and more obnoxious about it.

"Go get me another Pepsi," Phil ordered as he tossed his empty can at Connor's hand before letting out a huge burp.

"I can't," Connor told him. "We're out, remember? I told you that before you started drinking that one." He knew Phil hadn't listened to him at all. Phil hadn't wanted to hear what he had to say. He was mean like that.

Phil rolled his eyes and reluctantly got on his feet. "Fine. We're going to the store then." He would have just sent Connor by himself but he didn't trust him to even come back with it. "Come here slave boy." He grabbed the collar and the leash James had bought him and Connor's spine just about snapped at the sight of them.

"What the fuck is that?" he asked angrily.

"Your collar and leash," Phil answered. "Now hold still while I put it on you." He tried to get the items on but Connor took a big step back.

"No! You keep that away from me you meanie!"

Phil scowled and shook his head. "Hey! You're my slave, remember? And that means you have to do what I say. So now quit being a baby and let me put this shit on you!"

"NO!" Connor refused, not giving a shit if this was what he was supposed to do. He was not going to let Phil put that stuff on him and that was that.

Phil scowled and tried once again to force the situation but Connor was done. He was not a fucking dog and he wasn't going to let himself be treated like one. He kicked Phil in the shin as hard as he could and ran out of the room, a very very good and useful idea. Phil wanted to be a mean infidel? Fine. It was time for him to be mean back. Maybe he couldn't smash him into a window again but he knew just the person who could get away with it.

…

James placed the cupcakes in the oven and set the timer so he didn't forget to take them out of the oven. This was going to be a nice surprise for Mindy and he wasn't about to let it be ruined by the cupcakes being burned. That would just be completely and totally unacceptable. "You think Mommy will like these Lizzie Bear?" he asked as he picked up his infant daughter. Amber had come in a little while ago and had stolen Tiffany and Chelsea for some fashion show she, Thorn and Scarlett were planning so it was just the two of them now. "Huh? Do you think Mommy will like Daddy's cupcakes?"

"Mum mum mum!" Elizabeth replied, waving her fists around and squealing happily.

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I'll take that as a yes." He hugged her close to his chest, starting to head out to search for Mindy when Connor came in the room, his lower lip trembling and his eyes filled with tears. "What happened?" James asked immediately. Even though the two of them hadn't been getting along that great lately because of Connor's position on Cooper, Connor was still his son. And if something was wrong, he wanted to know about it.

Connor sniffled and rubbed his eyes furiously. "Phil is MEAN! I HATE him Daddy! I HATE him!"

James sighed and shook his head. "Connor I hate to say this but-"

"Do you know what he said about you?" Connor said, not letting James finish because he didn't want to hear it.

James raised an eyebrow. "He was talking about me?"

"Uh huh. He tolded me that he wanted you to die so he would have Mommy all to himself."

James felt something inside him snap when he heard those words. Now it was one thing for him to put up with Phil's monster size crush on Mindy and tolerate him for her sake. But if Phil thought for an instant he was going to talk like that in front of any of his children, he was going to have another thing coming. "Oh really now?"

"Uh huh." Connor sniffled and surprised James with a hug. "I don't want you to die Daddy. I don't want Mommy to be with Princess Straightedge. He doesn't like me, he told me that he would leave me out in the desert to die."

"The hell he will," James said angrily. He hugged Connor back and shook his head. "He's not going to be doing shit." He let Connor go and jerked his head towards the living room. "Go play with Tarzan. I'll take care of him."

"But what about my punishment? Mommy said-"

"I know what she said. And I'm telling you that you're off the hook so go play. I'll deal with Princess Straightedge myself." He left the room and made a beeline for wherever the hell Phil was, missing the triumphant smile that came over Connor's face as he went to go play and cause trouble with Tryg.


	24. Chapter 24

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Yeah he still cares about Jeff…although a conversation in this chapter wouldn't have gone over with him too well if he had heard it. And yeah, that was a pretty sweet plan by Connor right there. He just so threw Phil under the bus and James is chomping at the bit to get him.

…

"I don't LIKE that you hate Nickelback" Thorn shook her head disapprovingly as she sat on Phil's bed with Oxa, making the family friend shake his head and furrow his brow at her.

"And what the fucking hell do YOU know about music?"

Thorn took a moment and then gave him a very serious look.

"The best person ever is Miley Cyrus. I'm an official member of her fan club."

"Why?" he raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Your mom stripped on a pole with her the other night"

"No she didn't" Thorn shook her head stubbornly and folded her arms across her chest, though belligerently Phil nodded right in her face.

"Oh yes she did! Your precious Mommy had her tits out and everything! And you know what she's going to be doing NEXT, don't you?"

"Alexander McQueen" Thorn nodded plainly and smiled, "He loved to dress Mommy while he was alive"

"And now he's dead for being a fucking faggot"

"He was a friend of Mommy's…" Thorn replied warily of the top British designer who committed suicide a year ago via hanging in his own wardrobe, "she was very sad, you remember."

"Then how the fuck is she modeling for him when he's DEAD?" he snapped at Thorn when another voice came from the doorway.

"Because Sarah Burton took over the line and wants Loo as the lead model for the campaign" Tiffany replied a bit hoarsely from the doorway, "And between me and you, Loo-loo will go crazy if you bring him up in ANY derogatory way around her."

"Then why the fuck is she modeling for Victoria's Secret if she's not even an Angel? That's not fucking protocol-"

"Have you seen her chest?" Tiffany shrugged, "Everyone wants her boobs slapped on their ads."

"But they're FAKE"

"So are mine" she leaned against the door with her arms folded across her chest, "My husband loves them just as much as if they were real"

"Will you get out of here?" he waved her off dismissively which obviously didn't settle well for the unknown party lurking behind Tiffany, "I was trying to have a civil conversation with the kid"

"And you failed horribly" James finally cut in and immediately Tiffany backed off, knowing just by his eyes that something was wrong.

She craned her neck to see Amber, Scarlett, and Chelsea standing in Amber's doorway looking her way, but she immediately shooed them off and took Elizabeth from James. That didn't settle with the infant at all and she started wailing, so James had no choice but to take her back meaning physically he couldn't touch Phil anymore.

"Oh, now what the hell do YOU want?" Phil lamented while noticing James kicked the door shut so hard it almost came off the hinges.

Elizabeth's gigantic blue eyes widened significantly and lightly James rocked her so she wouldn't cry before glaring at Phil.

"Hmm…" James began to ponder darkly while pacing closer and closer to where Phil was standing, "what do I want…what do I want…"

"Yeah" Phil nodded without fear, "What the hell DO you want?"

"Well FIRST" James hissed, "I want to know why the FUCK you think its cool to run your ignorant little mouth every time my back is turned instead of just saying shit to my face"

"I…" he just about shit his pants at the look in James's eye. Not even the fact that he was gently holding his baby was redeeming.

"I mean I think I've been pretty tolerant of the fact that you seem to have a planet-sized pining for my WIFE, and perpetually piss me off when if you TRULY wanted to be all sneaky and shit you'd be kissing my ass"

"Dude, I have NO idea why you're bugging I haven't said a god damn thing"

"Oh really?" he raised both eyebrows dubiously, "Because I've been told differently. And if you have a problem with me, then be a fucking man about it and come straight up to me so I can formally know that you want me dead so you can have my wife all to yourself"

"WHAT?" Phil shook his head confusedly, "When did I ever even IMPLY that?" worriedly he shook his head at the unconvinced look in James's eye, "Why would I even…?"

"Look I know you fucking hate me alright? And to be honest I can't stand your existence either, so we do have some common ground established…but don't you fucking dare go running that straightedge disgusting mouth of yours to my children! Those are MY children all fucking seven o-"

"No they're not" Phil snapped back. Since James was getting nasty he was going to go there too. "There's KANE'S! You can tell because they haven't been infected by typical Lawson birth-defected scum"

James's free arm was around Phil's throat so fast he couldn't even breathe James was squeezing so tight, his dark eyes turning almost black with rage.

"You seem to be mistaken, Princess…" he hissed with a dangerous tilt of his head, "there never was a Crispy Critter in my Baby Doll's life"

"You're…" he gagged and struggled to kick free, not even minding the baby in James's arm, "a fucking psychopath, you know that?" he choked, James only able to let out a sarcastic little chuckle.

"Say it loud, say it proud, Princess!" he nodded encouragingly with raised eyebrows, "I could always tell my wife that Oxa over there skipped lunch"

"She would like to, Daddy" Thorn nodded from still sitting on the bed with Oxa. "He says mean things about you Daddy, all the time!"

"Are you kidding?" Phil shrieked at her desperately, "You're all little fucking liars-" he started gagging as James's fingers left imprints in his skin fiercely.

"My children don't lie to me" he hissed, Phil catching on and shaking his head in disgust at James.

"Of course they do, they're just telling you fucking anything that comes to mind now because they're so conditioned to watching your heinous, sick pastime of slitting throats they'll say anything you want to keep you going"

"They could tell me you crap ice cream for all I care" James growled and slammed his back to the wall with one arm, "My children don't fucking lie to me"

"You're just scaring me to feel better about yourself because deep down you know just what a fucking failure at life you've become to the point that your wife's fucking your nephew instead of you…now that's a new level of fucking pathetic"

James went quiet and Phil nodded along.

"Yeah…though I can't really blame her because who could ever realistically love a mass-murdering self-centered obnoxious freak not even a mother could-OWWW!"

Upon glancing down Phil noticed Oxa's massive jaws were closed around his calf as Thorn nodded satisfactorily from right behind her, immediately softening and looking innocent the moment James craned his neck to face her.

"I didn't do it!" she shouted innocently and ran out of the room with the Serval, leaving a seemingly disturbed James and Phil alone in the room together.

"I'll let you think about that and save the rancid cupcakes you made for Spaghetti since the timer went off two minutes ago…wouldn't want to make her even sicker, now would you?" he patted James on the back before leaving the room.

…

"Bub…!" Mindy giggled as they sat on the couch together with his head buried in her shoulder, "Stop!"

"Never…" Cooper narrowed his eyes and pinched Mindy's side again, making her giggle loudly and grab his forehead to kiss it.

"Dick"

"Bitch" his arms locked around her and he just sat there, too engrossed by her to even look at the TV since they happened to be watching Sweet Home Alabama (Mindy's choice; and whatever she wanted was beyond fine by him). A bowl of heavily buttered popcorn sat between them as did two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.

Along with wrapping his arms around her and his face in her neck, Cooper had one of her hands laced in his and nuzzled her just about every two seconds. If asked how he would ever spend a perfect day this was it. He loved her beyond anything in the universe god only knew how content he was just sitting there with her hanging out and watching movies.

Though he didn't want himself to be anywhere but holding her where he was right there, deep down he still relived raping her and he wanted to just stick his head in the sand. He couldn't get over the fact that he did that but obviously she did. Obviously his intention was never ever to hurt her, he was so blinded by his love he couldn't pick up that she was resisting against it.

"Momma?" he asked gently while tightly holding her fingers in his, waiting patiently for her to nod and after tearing her eyes from the screen she did.

"Hm?" gently running her fingers through his hair, she kissed his head and rested her chin on top of his skull.

He took a moment to breathe before snuggling into her harder and shaking his head.

"Did you break up with Jeff?"

"Yes sir"

"Did it hurt?"

"Both times" she nodded with a bit of a clouding in her eyes, but it quickly went away, "Back in the day, Jeffrey Nero was a meth-head and not good to date that way"

"I wasn't good either…" his eyes trailed off and he snapped them back to her once she lifted his chin, "you know what happened after Joie"

"Shhh" shaking her head gently she ran a finger down the slope of his nose, "Nonsense, okay?"

He sniffled for a moment before nodding, "Whatever you say, Mommy…"

"Outside the fact that you are fucking your brother there's nothing wrong with you" she shook her head with a smile, but Cooper scowled.

"Try telling Dad that"

"OH I did!" she nodded with wide eyes and shrugged, "but honestly do you think Daddy is easy to sway?"

Cooper looked her in the eye for a long moment before reaching one of his hands up to run along her cheek.

"You don't think he falls victim to the eyes?"

"He does" she giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth, "but let me handle Jeffrey Nero, alright?" she pet his hair gently and rubbed noses with him, "I'll take care a' that shit"

"But Mommy…" he frowned when she shook her head and sighed.

"You think I would ever let you be unhappy?"

"I wanted to fucking be with you" he admitted ruefully and dropped his light blue eyes to the floor, "How hard was that?"

"You know damn well why" was all she said while staring lovingly at her wedding rings, "How many ways can I tell you why I cannot betray-"

"Him EVER calling you out on two relationships is the pot calling the fucking kettle black and you KNOW it! All that fucking Mark bullshit he put you through-"

"Do not try to hurt Daddy in ANY way you understand me?" she asked dangerously and he nodded frantically.

"I'm sorry, Mommy" he panicked and shook his head, "I didn't mean it, I…"

"I know" she nodded and kissed his cheek, even though she knew he meant it, "But I think what's more important is you and Connor-"

"I need something Mommy, alright?" he squeezed her tightly as he could and frowned, "I'm all by myself,"

"And who's fault is that, darling?" gently she touched is face and shook her head, "Baby, you-"

"I MISS YOU!" he shouted at her and suddenly buried his face in her little neck, feeling a weight on his shoulders like nothing he'd ever wanted to feel yet felt all the time now, "I fucking miss you, Momma I want to be with you why can't I be with you I need you, Momma PLEASE!"

It didn't even take a second for her to cry too while holding his body as close as she could get it.

"I love you, Cooper…" she nodded gently for him and kissed his cheek as hard as she could, "I love you and I miss you and I can't be without you, Bub! You don't fucking get it I…" she inhaled sharply and started sobbing again, "I fucking love you and I HATE not being with you, Bub! I'm trying SO hard for you, I want you BACK! I want you back with me at home, I do! I do!"

"I get so scared…" he shivered and shook his head worriedly at their surroundings, "its not home without you, Momma, I can't breathe on my own! I don't eat unless you cook it, Momma, I fucking NEED YOU! DON'T EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!"

"I HAVE to, Bub I'm married to DADDY!"

"Frig him!" he waved him off and ignored the icy glare she shot him, "I don't fucking need him Mommy, I don't need anyone just fucking run away with me"

"I would NEVER leave your father" she shook her head slowly and left him completely crushed on the couch with his arms around her. "But I want you to come home" she sniffled and nodded, "Bub, you don't understand"

"No, I fucking do"

"If you did not rape me this would not have happened"

"If you hadn't told Daddy I made love to you it wouldn't have either" he only realized how wrong what he said was when she stood off the couch wordlessly and went to leave, making him dodge over the couch and shake his head frantically at her, "Where are you going, Momma?"

She didn't answer, which killed him seven times as much so he snuggled her and shook his head.

"I didn't mean that, Momma, I didn't mean it at all it was an accident I love you so fucking much, Momma…"

Again she was silent. She just fumbled around a kitchen countertop for the keys to the car when Cooper sprang off the couch and reached for her.

"Momma!" he got more frantic when she didn't respond, "Momma!"

Once she ignored him yet again the front of her body was literally slammed to the wall and her neck craned due to Cooper's hand which hooked under her chin. Her mouth hung slightly agape while her hands were to the wall holding herself up as best she could, but that didn't prevent Cooper's hands to rest over her hipbones and move his mouth an inch from hers.

"I love you, Mommy" he told her as their lips brushed, "Don't ever go away, don't leave me here by myself! I'm scared by myself, Momma! I can't do anything PLEASE Momma don't go! Don't leave me don't go!"

"Bub…" she croaked weakly, reaching out and keeping a hand to his cheek. Her body was still shoved against a wall and he had his own body pinning her that way, "I don't wanna go anywhere either, baby…"

"Then DON'T!" he shook his head and moved his face to her throat so he could nuzzle her there, "No one wants you to go anywhere…!"

"Bub, I love you" she replied again, cuddling him and trying her best to keep their lips apart, "I love you, I really do, baby…"

"I love you too, I more you more!" he childishly stamped a foot and whined, "Just don't go anywhere anymore I'll protect you from anything, please! Momma, I…" he shook his head and panicked, "I won't try to hurt myself ever again if you stay, Momma, I promise!"

"And what makes me so sure?" she shook her head disappointedly and kept one of her hands pressed to his cheek, "And get off me"

Immediately he did so and she hugged his torso, "I'm sorry…!"

"Daddy hasn't called me-"

"In the past five fucking minutes, I know"

"No…" her eyes got big and she shook her head, "Daddy has not called me all day and I don't like it."

"So call him" Cooper shrugged when Mindy shook her head and grabbed her keys for good.

"I miss him" she responded robotically and wrapped her arms around Cooper, "You be a good Bub for me, okay?"

He was too somber to answer.

"I'll try to be back soon, alright?" she frowned and shrugged, "I love ya forever"

"Momma…" his arms hooked around her and he trembled into her neck, "don't leave, Momma…stay here with me, I need you…"

"I want you back home" was all she could say before squeezing him tight in he little arms, "You make mistakes" she spoke against his shirt and shook her head, "but I love you for them."

It wasn't until after she forced herself out the door that he threw himself to his bed and fought so hard not to cry that when he did, he was forced to take a razor to his arm to shut himself up.

_She left because I'm pathetic_ he told himself to the point of nausea, _She'll never love me, how could anyone? All I do is hurt people I knew today was too good to be true._

…

"Jamie!" bouncing in through the front door like a little kid, Mindy was careening around the house looking for James, "JAMIE!"

She stopped in the kitchen and pouted, it wasn't like him to ignore her at all.

"Jamie!" she yelled again with pouted lips when a voice grabbed her attention.

"Hey Spaghetti!"

"Meatball!" she smiled and turned to the right, noticing him standing there next to a huge amount of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing all homemade, "Oh WOW!

Really?" her eyes got even bigger and she giggled at him, "Really Meatball? These are awesome!"

"They should be" Phil nodded at her with a smirk, "I made them."

"SHIT!" she giggled and shook her head at him, "Since when do you cook ANYTHING?"

"Technically this is baking" he responded with raised eyebrows and she giggled even louder, walking over in astonishment as one of his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Holy shit, Meatball, these look so awesome, really they do!"

"Hopefully they taste as good as they look"

"They do" she was already eating one, highly impressed, "Meatballman, WOW!"

She held up a hand with a smile and they high-fived.

"Thank you" she melted at the display before her and smiled, "This is really really sweet…" yet she still frowned and looked around, making Phil see red because he knew who she was looking for, "Did my Jamie try one yet?"

"How the hell should I know?" Phil shrugged, "He's been in some fucking mood of his I don't come near him"

"Mood?" she frowned and pouted her lips, "My Jamie is not moody, I am, sillybuns!" she giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth, "Where is he?"

"I think when you had that kid they tied the umbilical cord to him"

"'That kid' is my Lizzie Bear and you will not insult her that way!" she placed the cupcake down and smiled once more at the display, "This is just too sweet, Meatball you're such a sweetheart"

"I try" he nodded with a warm grin as she scurried off to find James yet again.

"Jamie?" she jogged into the great room before peering around, "Jamie?"

The door to his office was closed and she didn't even knock before just turning the knob and quickly closing the door behind her, suddenly highly unnerved.

"Jamie?" complete darkness surrounded the room except for a little desk light on and Mindy was panicking out of her mind, "Jamie-darling…?"

He was seated at his desk seemingly reading something, and the moment his shoulder was touched he fumbled to put it away.

"Jamie?" she frowned until his neck craned and he smiled weakly, clearly happy to see her but no words came out, "Jamie, baby I've been calling you forever!" she nodded and plopped into his lap, "Why didn't you answer me?"

"I'm sorry" he forced out before knocking his forehead to hers. Elizabeth squealed in his lap, so Mindy bent over and gave her a kiss before straddling over James and coiling herself tightly around his neck.

"No, it's nothing" she shook her head kindly and bumped her nose against his, "Whatcha doin' all day?"

He shrugged, which to her was vague to she frowned and started gently pressing her lips over his between breaths.

"I saw Bub this morning because I thought he was being a shit and trying to die, but he's really okay so I camed back home, darling I MISSED you!"

He nodded and wordlessly kissed her back, making all kinds of alarms go off in her head and she frowned.

"Jamie…" her fingers skimmed through his hair and the kisses immediately intensified, "What's wrong?"

…

"How DARE you!" Mindy shrieked at Phil before literally slamming him to a wall and grabbing his shirt, "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM? WHY would you say that?"

Tears were streaming down her face she was crying so hard.

"I FUCKING LOVE HIM, YOU PRICK!"

"It's what he needed to fucking know, alright Spaghetti?" he shouted back at her and shook his head, "The guy's a fucking mental case waiting to end up on TLC for biggest fucking-"

"Don't you even fucking say it" she warned him sharply and shook her head, "Don't you even say a fucking word about him, I warned you" her teeth clenched and she growled like a tigress, "I WARNED YOU! THAT'S MY HUSBAND! You don't know SHIT! You know NOTHING about him how DARE you!"

"No! You want to know what, Spaghetti?" Phil shrugged and backed her up a bit, "That THING is going to be what puts you in a coffin"

"And I will not care because he did it" she responded robotically before shaking her head, "You don't know a damn THING about him or him and me! He's MY husband! You can't take him away!"

"I can tell you you're an idiot" he nodded right at her, "The guy's a mentalcase just waiting to happen how could you let you and Kane's children-"

"They're Jamie's" she responded coldly, "What the fuck are you even talking about?"

Phil's eyes widened in fear, making him actually back off because she was delusional too.

"Jamie and me have six babies together and you know it"

"You're all fucking nuts, you know tha-"

"I want you to leave" she nodded with widened eyes, "And I want you to leave NOW. I don't care where you go; I just want you out of my house and away from my husband."

Phil took one look at her before shaking his head and heading for the door, "You're all a bunch of fucking lunatics."

…

Later that night Mindy held James's hand as they walked the perimeter of the pool, James closer to the edge so with a giggle Mindy shoved him in and fell right on top of him.

"HAH!" she treaded water a bit before launching her arms around his neck and smoothing his hair down before kissing him, "Mmm I love you, Jamie, I do!"

With a single tug she managed to get his shirt off as he tried to stay afloat with her on him in the deep end before guiding his hands over her own clothing to get it off too.

"I love you…!" she giggled and wrapped her bare legs around his waist, pressing against his abs as her mouth devoured his contently. "Don't be sad, Jamie, I love you" she nodded and worked on removing his pants and boxers motioning for him to sit up on the edge before swimming between his legs and taking his cock in her hand and grasping it tightly in her hand. He really didn't react much until she took him in her mouth and his fingers wove into her hair as she went.

"I love YOU" he said faintly as her tongue severely helped her mouth out, "Baby Doll…"

She drew it out a bit, taking longer than she should have to finally make him dig into her scalp as he came and was completely swallowed. They both took a breath before he slipped back into the water and ripped her body against his so her back was to the edge, making her moan excitedly and kiss him frantically until his hips thrust up and his cock slid inside.

"Mmm Jamie…" eagerly she met his hips for each pound and they made out, James furiously thrusting harder to finish her up, "Fuck!" she panted and tried to keep her mouth glued to his, her arms digging into his back for when they came, "You're so hard, Jamie" she hissed into his ear, "You're so big and hard, I don't wanna stop" she shook her head and they kissed, "Don't let me cum, Jamie"

"That good?" he whispered hoarsely into her mouth and she nodded.

"Perfect, Jamie" she nodded with a sniffle, giving his wet neck a hickey and gripping him tightly, "Nobody is perfect like you. And nobody ever will be" clearly he seemed to object to that, so she shook her head and their tongues continued tangling, "In fact; I kicked Meatball out for hurting you."

His eyes widened and immediately his face buried in her neck, releasing madly before cuddling into her neck.


	25. Chapter 25

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Oh Phil…there's many many things that can be said but that'll just take too much time. And there will be much more flipping out by many people before this story is done, I can promise you that.

…

After the "swimming" lessons were over, James and Mindy went upstairs to their bedroom so they could continue with their lovemaking. Elizabeth was resting in her bassinet, sleeping away while James traced his fingers over Mindy's face, falling more and more in love with her just like he did with every day that went by. "I still can't believe you kicked out Princess Straightedge," he said with a shake of his head. "So much for best friends forever huh?"

Mindy shook her head and nipped at his fingertips, making him chuckle lowly. "He hurt you," she stated. "I don't care if he's my best friend. Nobody hurts you."

James sighed and buried his face in the crook of her neck, loving being there because it made him feel safe. When he was there, all was right in the world and absolutely nothing could go wrong. "He's lucky I fucking didn't kill him. He really is. He's so fucking…ugh. How fucking dare he even fucking start that shit with me. He fucking doesn't know shit about me and he fucking bad talks me in front my children? He fucking tells them he wants me to die so he can have you all to himself-"

Mindy's eyes widened and she moved back so she could look at James's face. "Whoa whoa whoa! He said that?"

"That's what Connor told me," James confirmed. "That's why I went and confronted him in the first place. Mother fucker can hate me all he wants but I'll be damned if he fucking goes there with my babies. They're my babies…"

"They are," Mindy confirmed, snuggling back up to him and letting him rebury his face in the crook of her neck. "They're yours. They've always been yours, remember?"

He nodded, readily accepting that because he wanted and needed to believe that. He knew she repressed Kane and to be honest, he was doing his best to repress not only him, but Mark as well. He was trying to force himself to believe that after Annabelle died, he found Mindy and they had been perfect ever since. He wished that was how it would have went and it was easy to pretend most of the time because Mindy and the kids were more than willing to believe it. Mindy wanted to forget all about Glen and Amber was the only one of the babies who was even going to really remember him at all and she was also willing to pretend. James was Daddy and that was the way it had always been. James liked that and fucking hated that Phil had dared to throw the truth back in his face.

"Phil likes to be a butthead," Mindy went on as she played with James's hair. "And he says stupid things but you cannot let him get to you Jamie because he doesn't know SHIT! He doesn't Jamie. He doesn't know anything about you or our relationship. He likes to think he does but he doesn't. He wouldn't know it even when its smacking him right in the face."

"I'll fucking smack him in the face if I see him again," James grumbled unhappily. "And then I'll cut him up real nice." He was really not fucking around on that. He really really wanted Phil dead and his feelings were not about to change any time soon. Phil had no idea just how angry he had truly made James. "I fucking mean it Baby Doll. That son of a bitch is so fucking lucky I had Lizzie Bear with me when I confronted him earlier. If I hadn't I would have fucking got him right on the spot."

Mindy sighed heavily and hugged him as tightly as she could. "I should have smashed his cupcakes in his face," she said with a shake of her head. "And then knocked him down some stairs. He would have deserved it."

James frowned and pulled himself back so he could stare at Mindy in confusion. "His cupcakes?"

"Yeah," she said, now confused as to why he was confused. "He gave me cupcakes when I first got home and told me he made them-"

"That son of a bitch!" James growled, now REALLY fucking offended. This was just the fucking icing on his shitastic cake.

"What?" Mindy said, clearly concerned by James's tone. "What's the matter Jamie? What's wrong?"

"I made those cupcakes," he informed her. "I fucking made them for you as a fucking surprise and he fucking stole my thunder!"

Her eyes widened. "You made them?"

"Yes! I made them. They were for you Baby Doll-" She cut him off with a kiss and he eagerly kissed her back, making out with her until they were both completely out of breath.

"They were delicious Jamie," Mindy told him as she panted for breath. "They were so delicious I should have known Meatball was lying! He couldn't ever make something that good." She cupped his face in her hands and began kissing him frantically. "Jamie I'm sorry. I'm sorry-" Now it was his turn to cut her off with a kiss.

"You have NOTHING to be sorry for," he informed her. "Why are you saying that? Don't say that Baby Doll you did nothing wrong."

"But I should have realized they were your cupcakes and not-"

"Nonsense. You had no way to know. Now stop apologizing okay? There's no need for that." He kissed her again, wiping away any more objections she had to that. He just wanted to forget about the majority of this day. Fuck it, he couldn't let Phil fucking get to him like this. This is what the bastard wanted. The more he dwelled on it, the more Phil won. He had to fucking knock it off and he had to knock it off now.

"_You're just scaring me to feel better about yourself because deep down inside you know just what a failure at life you've become…who could ever realistically love a mass murdering self centered obnoxious freak not even a mother-"_

"_Who the FUCK fails fucking English?" Caroline screamed at James, who had made the mistake of just walking through the front door. She had grabbed him by the hair on sight and had dragged him into the living room because she had somehow found out about his failings in school and was using them as an excuse to go after him (not like she needed them-she went after him for absolutely no reason at all most of the time). "HUH? Don't you fucking speak it you little bastard?"_

"_Mom-" He didn't even get to finish his sentence. She backhanded him as hard as she could, just about taking his head off with that one blow. His head rocked to the side and he immediately put his hands up and trembled in fear. He fucking hated it when she got like this. She was fucking terrifying. "Mom please-" This time he got a punch to the face for daring to speak out of turn and he almost blacked out until she grabbed him by the hair and yanked him back violently._

"_Don't you fucking pass out on me boy," she growled, getting right in his face so he could smell the booze in her breath. "You hear me? You'll be in a world of fucking hurt if you pass out now."_

_He knew she wasn't fucking around with him so he struggled to keep consciousness because the moment of oblivion wouldn't be worth the pain he would get afterwards. Once she was satisfied he wasn't going to fade away, she let him go so she could grab her glass of scotch and down the rest of it with one giant gulp. "Stupid bastard," she growled. "You're so fucking stupid."_

"_No I'm not Momma," he objected sullenly. He needed to just stay quiet because he was just asking for trouble now, but he couldn't. He didn't like that she thought he was an idiot. "I'm not really. I just don't like doing the work, that's-"_

_She didn't give a flying fuck about his reasons. She took her empty glass and smashed it against the side of his head, making him cry out in pain. The blow severely dazed him and while he was trying to recover from it, she took off her belt and whacked him with it a couple of times before wrapping it around his neck and choking him with it. "You listen to me and you listen to me to good you fucking idiot," she hissed. "We both know you're a fucking retard but you better find a way into making those teachers believe you're not, you hear me? Because if you don't, I'll fucking make you wish you were never fucking born, you understand?"_

"Jamie!"

James blinked, taking several minutes to realize that he was not having the life choked out of him by his own mother and powerless to stop it. He was safe in his bed with Mindy, curled up in the fetal position and clinging to her for dear life and scaring the fuck out of her. "I'm okay," he lied, trying to get a hold of himself. "I'm okay."

"No you're not you're lying," Mindy stated, planting his face with kisses and shaking her head frantically. "Jamie you're shaking! Baby what's the matter? What's wrong?"

"Just something came back that I wanted to forget…" That didn't really narrow anything down because there was a lot of the first seventeen years of his life that he still tried to forget to this day. He wanted it gone from his mind so he tried to repress as much of it as possible. But Phil's words about him being a failure opened up a lot of floodgates for him because Caroline had always called him a failure. She had went out of her way to make him feel like that every day of his life and some of those deep rooted insecurities still lingered on in the darkest places of his mind.

Mindy shook her head and kissed him firmly. "She's gone baby." She didn't need to ask who he was thinking about. She just knew. She always knew. "She's gone and she was wrong. You're not those things she said you were. You're perfect and I love you and she's wrong and gone and can never ever hurt you again."

He nodded and kissed her, running his hands all over her body before climbing on top of her. He just wanted to forget. Forget about Phil, forget about Caroline, forget about his feelings of inadequacy. He wanted to fuck them away and keep them away because he wanted to believe Mindy's words about him being perfect. He didn't really feel that way and he knew it wasn't true but it was nice to be thought of that way by someone. It made for a nice change of pace, that was for sure.

…

Cooper hadn't realized he had passed out until he opened his eyes and found himself slumped back against the wall on the bathroom floor. He groaned and rubbed his eyes furiously, wincing at the pain in his arms. "Oh fuck," he groaned, looking down to realize he had slashed himself up real nice. "Oh fuck oh fuck…" He coughed and sniffled, remembering why he had slashed himself up in the first place. "Momma…" He hugged himself tightly and tried to get a hold of himself. That was easier said than done though. His mind was telling him once again what a fucking piece of shit he was. Mindy didn't love him. She thought he was pathetic and that was why she left. She was better off being gone anyway because all he ever brought people was pain and death. Annabelle, Joie, Mindy, Jeff…they had all died or gotten hurt because of him. It was his fault for their suffering. Not all of that was rational of course but he didn't care about rational. He was beyond any kind of rational thought. He was drowning, simply drowning in his misery and anything that propelled it more was welcomed.

He grabbed the razor again and once again started cutting his arms, crying pathetically because it hurt so much. He needed to dress his wounds before they got infected but he didn't care to do so. He wanted them to get infected so he could just die already. He couldn't stand going on like this anymore. It was too much. It was all just too much.

The pain was horrendous and the blood began to run down quite freely on his arm but he didn't care. The blood at least gave him some company. He didn't have anyone else. No Mindy, no Connor, no Jeff…he was alone. Utterly and completely alone and he hated it. He wanted to scream and beg someone to help him but he knew nobody would. He didn't deserve it. If he wanted it, he didn't deserve it. It was as simple as that.

Sobbing quietly, he found himself getting up to his feet and stumbling out of the room. His legs felt really weak and wobbly but he didn't care. He was just going…going…well he didn't know where he was going. He just stumbled out the front door and kept going, falling down and scraping up his hands before forcing himself back up and walking again. He had to get away. He didn't care where he went; as long as he got away, that was all that mattered to him.


	26. Chapter 26

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"OW, Jamie NO!" Mindy squealed while writhing around in bed the next morning, trying to evade James's fingers left and right, "That HURTS!"

"No it doesn't…" while holding Elizabeth in his left arm he tickled the hell out of Mindy with his right, making tears spring to her eyes she was laughing so hard trying to get away from him.

"Yes it does!" she had to stop to laugh a moment and catch her breath, "STOP!"

"Never" shaking his head slowly he leaned down and kissed her, making a meal out of it until he felt her starting to get comfortable underneath him, "Nuh uh…"

"What?" her eyes widened as she was handed Elizabeth and kissed all over her chest and down her lower abdomen, "Jamie!"

"Say it louder" he prompted with raised eyebrows before beginning to place kisses between her legs.

"Jamie!" immediately her spine arched into his mouth as his tongue delved deeper and found a spot he knew she liked, "Right there!" she curled her lips in and nodded, "Right there, Jamie!"

Her phone vibrated and she went to answer it since it was right beside her when without looking one of James's hands shot up and grabbed the phone from her hands.

"Hey!" she frowned as he tossed it to the other side of the bed and lapped at her deeper yet, "Jamie…!"

One of his hands reached to touch Elizabeth resting on her chest while the other rubbed her inner thigh and helped her eventually toss her head back to the pillow as he brought her to climax.

…

"You ignored me again" Jeff's voice came a bit irritably from the other end as Mindy watched James prop Elizabeth up on their bathroom counter so she could watch him shave his face.

For some reason Elizabeth liked to observe little things like that, and naturally James had zero objection to anything she liked to do. If it wouldn't result in a hospital trip he'd probably let her shave his face too. Sometimes he gave her a popsicle stick and let her actually swipe shaving cream off his face to pretend, but secretly Mindy figured it was because she was riveted by the idea of a razor blade. Being that Elizabeth mirrored her father so incredibly closely in mannerisms and thinking patterns, Mindy figured the homicidal tendencies were clearly there but not out in the open.

"I'm sorry…" Mindy frowned and laid back in her bed over the spot she and James usually slept/made love in, "I was not awake yet-"

"The call was ignored, Min, I know you were up"

"But I didn't ignore you, jerkface" her voice got harsh and that was immediately Jeff's signal to cool down and shy off, "Jamie grabbed my phone before I could see it was you"

"And what the hell is he doing with your phone, Min?"

The eerie silence answered that one before Mindy punched an infant.

"When you have someone…" she began quite shortly as not to seem overtly angry at her longtime best friend/ex-boyfriend, "nothing is private anymore, Jeffrey Nero. Everything you thought was 'mine' is now 'ours' and I have a feeling you will be one of those who learn that the hard way"

"But it's your damn phone, Min! Shouldn't YOU have control over your own?"

"Meh" she shrugged and shook her head, "I answer his all the time, even if someone is calling him from work."

"And you asked them what would they like from your life?"

"Yes."

Jeff ran a hand over his face and sighed deeply, she really never did change.

"You have to keep SOME things to yourselves…?"

"Not us" she shook her head and smiled weakly at James wrinkling his nose at Elizabeth and turning on the sink to clean out the razor before he resumed shaving.

"Seriously?" Jeff snickered a bit knowingly, "Don't you think that's a little obsessive?"

Her lips pouted and she looked into the bathroom while tapping the bed, "Ayo! Jamie!"

His entire face lit up and his neck craned to face her lying on their bed with the phone to her ear, "Baby Doll?"

"What's my vice?" she held the phone out for Jeff to hear James robotically recite.

"Tiny, realistic, plastic food magnets"

"And there you have it" she said into the phone, "THAT'S obsessive…" she giggled before smiling sweetly at James, "That's all, Jamie-darling, thank you!"

"I love you" he turned back to shaving and handed Elizabeth a pink teething ring for her to bite on.

"I love YOU!" she yelled back at him before flopping her head to the pillow and smelling the fabric which carried the scent of James's hair, "When you date its better to know less, but now that we are married I like knowing everything" she nodded complacently, "You will see one day, Jeffrey Nero. Couples that are like each other last longer than couples that are opposites."

"So let me get this straight…" Jeff reiterated, "You two virtually hide nothing from the other?"

"Nope" she shook her head, "Why would I?"

"What would happen if you found out James was hiding something from you…" he began a bit lowly, "something bad? Something that would make you terribly upset to find out he was keeping it from you…?"

"Like what?" she poked her tongue between her teeth and shrugged, "We're together ninety-five percent of the day, what could he POSSIBLY be-"

"Who knows…" Jeff shrugged, "you said he was reading something when you found him the night you kicked Phil out"

"Mhm…" she nodded along with curled lips for him to continue, "it was pr-"

"You don't know what he was reading"

"No I don't" she shook her head and shrugged, "I do not see why it is a big deal"

"Well he was quick to put it away the moment you came in the door, wasn't he?"

"So?" she frowned and shrugged, "It's not like it was a magazine or anything it was a god damn book of some kind…and even if it was a magazine what do I give a fuck? I trust my husband, Jeffrey Nero-"

"So though you're not too keen on keeping things from him, he's sure keeping something from you"

"No he isn't" she shook her head and shrugged, "I KNOW I am the only person who has been with him and do not ask me how I know because you won't wanna hear it."

"Then ask him what he was reading"

"Fine" she shrugged, "I'll ask him sometime later, I don't give a fuck even if it was a memoir on Mark's god damn life I don't care. Knowing him it was probably the Catcher in the Rye or something-"

"Serial killer handbook" Jeff snickered and she nodded.

"I know…Glen read it out loud to me once and I thought it was complete garbage. It's a whiny snot-nosed brat complaining about life and he's obsessed with a god damn carousel because he ever ever wants to grow up and wants life just to keep going the same fucking way what-fucking-ever I want to BURN that shit I hate it so much."

"So?" he tempted yet again, "Ask James what he was reading."

"Why do you care so much?" she frowned and noticed James had finished shaving and was brushing his teeth, that meant bath time was soon. They used to shower together during the mornings, but being that Elizabeth was constantly with them they now bathed in the mornings and showered at night while the baby was asleep.

"Well, being that you're hiding something pretty fucking major from him I think you're going to need a backup argument to support your cause when he finds out you've been keeping shit"

"Excuse me?" her eyes narrowed and she shook her head, "Jeffrey Nero, what the fucking hell are you talkin' about?"

"Please, Min! Don't even give me that! You know damn well what's been going on between Cooper and Connor, alright? You KNOW and you haven't done jack"

"Besides go to his house, scream, yell, and smack the fucking shit out of him?" she countered sharply and shook her head, "Jeffrey Nero I warned him"

"And you honestly think you can make it stop…?"

"He loves me" she nodded stubbornly, "My Bub loves me enough not to ever do anything like that."

"I think you're overestimating his capacity to love anyone other than himself"

"You're just bitter because you are not together anymore"

"Neither are you" that statement made her face completely pale and she shook her head frantically.

"Wha-what are you talkin' about, Jeffrey Nero? We were never together"

"Sure" he rolled his eyes and started getting even harsher with her, "Look Min, I know you well enough after all these years that you have absolutely no fucking issue with being with whatever the latest piece of meat is"

"Why are you saying this…" she panicked when he continued.

"You lead Cooper on"

"You don't know shit" she shut him down coldly, "and if you ever talk about either of us that way ever again I will blame it on you being jealous that I broked up with you twice and am married"

"No, Min…" he stammered and she could actually feel his breathing accelerate, "I'm sorry, please! I don't know where that came from! I seriously don't fucking know where that came from"

"I understand" she replied uncaringly, letting Jeff know exactly what she thought of that.

"I love you, Min! Please, I didn't mean to snap I'm just so fucking confused and pissed and-"

"I understand"

That let Jeff know he was going to have to show up at the door with candy and a homemade painting for her.

"I just don't think you keeping Cooper's thing with Connor from James is a smart idea…I mean think about how YOU would feel…"

"But I can't hurt Bub, Jeffrey Nero" she shook her head with a sniffle, "I can't. You don't understand."

"But how would you feel if you were James?" Jeff countered quickly, "What would James feel if he knew you were keeping something that horrible from him?"

She paused uncomfortably.

"In the end Min, you're married to James."

…

Stumbling down that familiar seedy Las Vegas neighborhood, Cooper blindly clutched his bleeding wrist and frantically just tried to get anywhere at all. Maybe he could find an alley to crawl up and die in so no one would ever be burdened with him again. He coughed and glanced up at the streetlights, which blinded him and he tried valiantly to stay out of the middle of the road. He almost got hit last time he was here and it really wasn't something he wanted to relive just yet. He was so lost he didn't even know where he was, his cell phone wasn't on him either. Mindy had been really neurotic and forced him to plant a little satellite chip in his phone so he could constantly be tracked, but his phone wasn't anywhere near his person so what good would that do?

"What the FUCK…?" the same blonde prostitute that had saved him from getting plowed by a truck leaned against a railing holding a cigarette in one hand surrounded by two other older girls.

Her blue eyes wreathed in raccoon-like eyeshadow squinted and then suddenly popped out. Much to her surprise there was the same rich boy she'd pulled from the gutter last time, his wrists cut open and bleeding while the rest of him was so pale and covered in a blanket of icy sweat she actually felt bad.

"Is he like…" the blonde pouted her thin lips covered in a clear gloss and spoke to the two older girls beside her, "TRYING to get himself killed?"

"That's the same dumbass from the other night, isn't it?" the redhead asked her rail-thin friend who was taller than both of the others without the huge heels on.

"Yeeeep" the blonde's lips curled yet again and she had to roll her eyes, "I'll handle this" between her teeth the cigarette sat and she took large strides across the street towards the handsome stranger she'd pulled from the gutter last time.

Cooper coughed while looking about at the facades of buildings, the sketchiness of the neighborhood finally kicking in yet he wasn't frightened. Maybe someone would knife him and end it quick.

"Hey!"

Cooper heard a hoarse voice calling his name yet he made no acknowledgement, which only irritated the blonde so she moved her long legs faster.

"Hey rich boy!"

Rich boy…collapsing sideways so only the brick side of a boarding house held him up, Cooper slowly lifted his empty eyes to hear the clicking of heels and hip-length pin-straight stringy blonde hair sweeping along his arm.

"Hey, rich boy! You in there?" she frowned and tried to look him in the eye since she was almost tall enough to do so, "Hey! Rich boy, what's going on?"

Her choppy side bangs in front hid most of her pale face from him while she wore an oversized men's dark green flannel to hide the lingerie she wore underneath, yet he knew she was practically naked under that because he could see the garter belt which held up her thigh-high fishnet stockings.

"Rich boy, rich boy" she tried faster and her eyes zoned in on those bloodied wrists, "What's going on? What's wrong? Why are you here?"

The first time he met her he didn't really catch a glimpse so he couldn't see how old she was, but the very glaze over her youthful face let him know she wasn't even eighteen.

"Why are you here, why are you doing this…?" her eyes dropped to those bloodied wrists and a hand slapped over her little mouth in horror, "What happened? Did someone…?"

He grunted with a shake of the head, trying desperately to hide the wrists when she grabbed them and actually trembled a bit at the self-inflicted lacerations.

"Oh my god…" eyeballing his state she panicked, "Oh my god…! Girls!"

Her head whipped to the opposite side of the street and the redhead held up her cell phone.

"YEAH!" the blonde gave an exaggerated nod, "Call Penn! Tell him to come NOW! Bring the car…!"

"No" immediately Cooper's hand went out and gripped her frail wrist frantically, "No hospital, no…!" he shook his head worriedly at her and panicked. Suicide attempts meant psychiatric observation he didn't want that, "Please…"

"You got caught in barbed wire" the blonde told him while draping an arm of his around her shoulders and watching the other two girls calling who Cooper figured was their owner, "You got caught in barbed wire surrounding a fence meant to keep an attack dog in. You jumped up at the sound of gunfire somewhere in the neighborhood and slashed your wrists up, you got me?" she looked to him encouragingly and soothed him into nodding. "Alright then, my name is Michel Taylor, and you're my cousin. Got it?"

"Whatever…" he forced himself to nod as the girls across the street ran over and surveyed the situation before helping the skeletal blonde hold him up.

"Oh my god…" the redhead held up his wrist while the dirty blonde grimaced while on the phone with their owner. Cooper's weight was mostly on the platinum blonde though, and she kept talking to him trying to ask questions to keep him coherent, but he couldn't hear much…he couldn't hear anything…

…

With a heavy groan some hours later Cooper peeled his eyes open in the hospital to see not the dirty blonde or redhead, but the platinum 'Michel Taylor' (which he knew had to be fake) sitting with her legs clenched together uncomfortably in the chair across the room. The fluorescent bulbs washed her pale face out so only that heavy makeup around her eyes really stood out, but her head was bowed anyway so he couldn't see her.

He glanced down at his wrists and noticed that along with an IV there were a load of stitches along his wrists and bandages to keep the scratches so they wouldn't become infected. The blonde just sat there though like some sort of lost puppy, picking at a hair band tied around her wrist and clearly waiting for him to wake up.

"Who are you?" he croaked, making the blonde lift her eyes and shrink back a bit before gathering what she had in her to answer.

"None of your business."

"Who are you?" he asked harsher, getting the same lack-of response from her and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, rich boy" she replied while curling her lips in a bit and looking off to the side, "But if I told you, I'd have to kill you."

There was a period of silence, Cooper staring at the wall trying to figure out when she would leave, but she didn't until a nurse came in the room and whispered something to her so she stood.

"There's a cab outside waiting to take you home to your mommy and daddy" her eyes drifted to his arm and widened significantly, "They'll be so proud."

With that she turned and headed out of the room all by herself, nurses coming right in after that to get him ready to come home.

…

"Baby Doll…" James ran his fingers disapprovingly along Mindy's collarbone as they lie in the bathtub together not long after Mindy got off the phone with Jeff, "who called?"

"Jeffrey Nero" she replied lightly, kissing his neck and keeping her legs locked around his waist as Elizabeth rested between them but completely out of the hot water.

He nodded along to that before frowning and running his fingers through her sopping wet hair.

"What'd he want this early?"

"To annoy me" she shrugged and wove her fingers into his damp hair so they could kiss. They'd made love about half an hour ago but he was yet to pull out incase they felt like doing it again. "He also knows something…" she frowned and traced his beautiful face with her fingertips, just as deeply in love with him as he was with her.

"What does he know?" his lips pouted as he asked calmly, receiving a big kiss to the lips and Mindy's tongue gliding into his willing mouth, "Is it bad?"

She nodded wordlessly and began to move with him inside her once more to hopefully lessen the tension of the situation.

"How bad?"

"Bad" she nodded before keeping one arm around his neck and the other on their baby, "he knows something about Cooper and Connor…"

"What?" immediately he was on defense to kill Cooper when she shook her head and trailed her fingers along his lips, frowning as he kissed them, "What, Baby Doll? Darling, tell me please!"

"Well…" she began gently and rested their faces together, "You know how Cooper and Connor used to do things with each other…" he didn't answer beyond a worried nod, "yeah…" that was her answer in return, nodding. "That's what they've been doing. A lot. Jeffrey Nero says Connor talked about the shower and Cooper has told me himself as has Connor. I trieded kicking their asses but they will not listen to me."

James didn't say anything, but grabbed and kissed Mindy frantically before changing his pace in breathing to something Mindy knew was horrifying for both Cooper and maybe Connor. She felt horrible for doing so, like the worst traitor in the world…yet at the end of the day Jeff was right…James was her husband.


	27. Chapter 27

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Yeah I know. He blames himself and then just does not deal well with at all. It's very depressing. And despite anything James will say on the Cooper/Connor matter, the fact of the matter is, it's not actually the incest that will bother him like it is Mindy. To put it bluntly, this Cooper/Connor development is an excuse to get Cooper for raping Mindy. He did not want to make that promise to not kill Cooper and only did it because Mindy made him…now though, this is his out to go after him again. Forgiveness, thy name is not James...

...

Cooper stared down at his bandaged wrist as the cab driver took him to James and Mindy's house. He had been stitched back together and was being sent off because they had bought the entire story about him getting caught in the barb wire. He knew he was damn well lucky that they had believed that bullshit story that the blonde hooker that had fed them because if they hadn't, he would have been locked up in a suicide ward right at that moment. There was no way anyone would have just believed he wasn't a danger to himself. Hell he knew for a fact that he wasn't. He knew that once it all became too much again and he didn't have anyone to help him he would just go and hurt himself again. What else could he do? He had nothing else.

"So…what's it like being Mindy Stratus's stepson?" the cab driver suddenly asked. He had been glancing back at Cooper for quite awhile now and if Cooper had bothered to pay any attention at all, he would have noticed that a long time ago.

Cooper frowned and shrugged, not really in the mood to discuss her with some guy he didn't even know. This guy was being paid to take him somewhere, not talk about his family.

The cab driver didn't take the hint and asked another question. "So like…what's the deal with that James guy she married? He looks kind of psychotic."

Cooper couldn't help but snort at that. _If he only knew…_

"You don't talk a lot do you?"

"No," Cooper finally replied. "And if you wouldn't mind I would like to keep it that way. It's been a long night."

"Right….so what did you say happened to your wrist?"

"I didn't," Cooper growled. This guy was really starting to get under his skin and he was not going to put up with it much longer. He was just not in the mood for it. Why did this guy think any of this was his business? He didn't understand that logic at all. This guy didn't even know him. What made him think he could talk to him at all? It was completely retarded.

The driver turned into the driveway and Cooper looked up just in time to see James get up from his spot on the porch. The very look on his face sent a very nasty chill straight to Cooper's heart. "Drive away," he said suddenly. He didn't know why James had that look on his face but he didn't like it. It just spelled all kinds of trouble for him. "Drive away please drive away."

"Why?" the driver asked, clearly not understanding just how bad the look on James's face was.

Cooper didn't get time to explain. James got his door opened and was yanking him out roughly by the arm before he could do anything. "Keep the change," he said to the cab driver as he tossed a one hundred dollar bill at him. He slammed the car door shut and made sure that the driver drove away before literally dragging Cooper up the driveway and into the garage. Cooper tried to get out of James's grasp but his father's grip was so tight that it was literally cutting the circulation off in his arm. "Dad-"

"Shut up," James growled.

Cooper gulped, now beyond fucking terrified. "Dad please-" He yelped as he was literally tossed on the ground like a rag doll. He managed to catch himself with his hands before he busted his face up but he couldn't get all the way back up because James was kicking him in the ribs as hard as he could. All the air left his body and he curled up in a little ball on the ground, clutching his stomach and watching as James locked the garage door so he couldn't get out.

"So…" James shook his head and stood over Cooper, a look of pure rage and disgust on his face. "We need to have a little chat."

Cooper winced at those words and did his best to back up away from James. He had nowhere to really go. It felt like James had managed to crack a rib or two with just one kick and his eyes were literally watering from the pain.

"Do you want to know what this chat is going to be about?" James asked, his voice deceptively sweet and nice. "I think you should know, since it's about you."

Cooper couldn't form an answer. He just continued to back away, his eyes widening as he realized that the garage had been redecorated. Some of the cars that James kept stashed in there were gone and there was a metal table right in the middle and a tray next to it that probably had stuff on him that he didn't want to know about.

"Baby Doll told me something very interesting about you and Connor," James said, getting closer and closer and snickering as Cooper kept trying to get away. "Do you want to take any guess as to what it was she told me?"

_Oh God…_James knew. Mindy had fucking told him about him and Connor. Why had she done that? She had promised she wouldn't. What had made her do it? Did James suspect it and trick her? Or did he find out some other way and just was saying that Mindy had told him just to fuck with him? He really didn't have much time to think about that. The look on James's face twisted into something very ugly and the next thing Cooper knew, James had grabbed him by the throat and had single handily lifted him up and was dangling him in the air. Cooper kicked and struggled to get away because he couldn't breathe at all but James wasn't letting go. James was pissed and when he was pissed, his strength was intensified by a hundred.

"You know, after what you did you Baby Doll and being lucky to even be alive at all, I would have thought you would have been fucking doing your best to stay under my fucking radar. You've ALWAYS fucking known how I feel about rapists but then you betrayed me and your mother by raping her! And not only have you done absolutely NOTHING to earn the forgiveness she's given but you fucking go against her will again and raped your brother! She TOLD you to leave him alone but did you listen? NO! You didn't fucking listen! You never fucking learn, do you?"

Cooper tried to pry James's fingers off his neck but got absolutely nowhere. He wanted to explain how it really happened because the version James had in his head wasn't right at all. He hadn't raped Connor. Connor had been more than willing to do it so it hadn't been rape. But deep down, he knew that James was never going to believe him. He had broken the trust and ties between them and now James was just bound and determined to believe the absolute worse in him. He wasn't his son anymore. He was Joseph reincarnated, which was one of the worst things to be when it came to James. The only thing worse than Joseph was Caroline. That was how much James hated anything reminding him of his father.

James shook his head and slammed Cooper down on the metal table as hard as he could. The back of Cooper's head bounced off the cold steel and severely disoriented him. Still he struggled on, writhing and wiggling to get away but stopping in fear as James put his face right up against his.

"Now the question becomes this…what do I do about this situation?" James pretended to think about it before smiling evilly and letting out a chuckle that made Cooper whimper. "I've got several ideas…why don't we just go ahead and test them all out, shall we?"

…

"Come here Snoopy!" Connor ordered as he tried to grab his puppy, who thought it would be funny to continuously run away from him even though there was serious business that needed to be done. He and Tryg wanted to train Snoopy and Spike to be gladiators and they couldn't do that when the animals wouldn't cooperate. "Come on, don't be mean! I don't like it when you're mean to me like this!"

Snoopy barked playfully before running circles around Connor, which just frustrated him even more.

"He's not being a very good doggy," Tryg said with a shake of his head. He had a football helmet already placed on Spike's head and was watching Connor struggle with Snoopy. "I think we need to train him better."

"He's just confused," Connor said defensively. "He thinks he's playing with me when he should be trying to play with Spike instead." He made another attempt to grab Snoopy and he almost had him this time but then Tiffany opened the door to talk to them and distracted him.

"Do you guys want some ice cr-Snoopy!" Snoopy slipped out the door and ran away, making Connor groan in frustration.

"Snoopy! Get back here!" Connor opened the door wider and slipped past Tiffany so he could run after his beagle. "Snoopy! Stop being bad and stop running away from me right now!"

Snoopy skidded to a stop and turned around so he could give Connor a hurt look. "I'm sorry Snoopy," Connor said, getting down to his knees so he could comfort his puppy. "I didn't mean that, honest. I just didn't want you to run away from me no more." He picked Snoopy up and showered him with kisses. "You wanna go and beat up Spike to feel better?" he asked. "Huh? Does that sound like fun?"

Snoopy barked and Connor decided to take that as a yes. He was about to get up and take him back to his room when Thorn came out of her room and gave him a smug look. "What are you looking at?" he asked irritably.

Thorn smirked and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Daddy's gonna kill Cooper for real this time. He's gonna chop him up and feed him to Oxa."

"What? He is not! Coopy's not even here!"

"Yes he is!" Thorn informed him. "He got dropped off by a taxi and Daddy took him to the garage. He's killing him right now for being a stupid head."

Connor's heart dropped somewhere down below his stomach. He didn't necessarily want to believe her but he knew how James was about Cooper now so he let go of Snoopy and jumped to his feet so he could run downstairs. "DADDY! DADDY YOU LEAVE COOPY ALONE YOU MEANIE!"

…

Mindy paced back and forth around the kitchen, bouncing a fussy Elizabeth as she went. Elizabeth wanted James but James was busy in the garage, doing who knows what to Cooper. The sound of Cooper's screams were starting to drift into the house and Mindy's heart was absolutely breaking at the sound of them. She made no move to go out there and stop James though. He had told her to stay in the house with Elizabeth and she was going to listen to him. She had gone against him enough by going to see Cooper when he wanted her to stay away from him completely and she still felt guilty for keeping a secret from him to begin with. Besides from that, she had told Cooper what was going to happen if he did the shit that he did. She fucking had told him and still he had done it anyway. He knew she couldn't control James's reaction and would make no move to stop him. He fucking knew it.

"Dada!" Elizabeth said, pouting her lips and crying because James was not coming to hold her. "Dada!"

"Sssshhh, Daddy's busy right now Lizzie Bear," Mindy said in her most soothing voice. "He'll be done soon though, okay?"

Elizabeth whined and nestled her head against Mindy's shoulder, crying softly and making her mother very sad. "Lizzie-"

"DADDY! DADDY YOU LEAVE COOPY ALONE YOU MEANIE!"

Mindy whirled around just in time to see Connor making a beeline for the door that connected the garage to the house. "Connor!"

Connor whirled around and the look on his face actually made Mindy take a step back because it scared her so much. "You told him!" he shrieked angrily. "You told him didn't you? You told him when you promised you wouldn't!"

"Connor I can explain-" Mindy tried to take a step towards him to calm him down but he was having none of it. He let out a cross between a shriek and a growl and he scared Elizabeth so badly that she started bawling her eyes out. He didn't give a shit though. He was so angry and he was hell bent on letting her know it.

"You're a liar!" he shrieked, not even thinking about what he was saying. He was just saying it because that was the way he saw it. "I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU AND DADDY I HATE ALL OF YOU!" He snagged himself a kitchen chair and for one terrifying moment Mindy thought he was going to chuck it at her. He didn't though. He just gave her a very hateful look before going on his way. He had other plans for that chair that did not involve her in the least.

…

"You know, I've thought a lot about this for quite awhile now," James said casually as he stared down at Cooper, who was literally crucified to the table. Two butcher knives from the kitchen had been stabbed through Cooper's hands and kept him laying flat on his back on the table. He had passed out initially because of the pain but James had quickly woke him back up. There was going to be no passing out on this party tonight. He wanted Cooper awake and aware of what was going to be happening to him. "And you know, I actually thought about giving you a taste of your own medicine. You like to rape people so…" He chuckled and Cooper shivered because he really believed that James was going to do it. James was out of his fucking mind. He had slipped into the psychotic rage that had spelled death for many many people over the years.

"But I'm not going to do that," James said, not allowing those words to be a comfort because he was punching Cooper in his now definitely broken ribs and then slicing his knife across his chest. "Because I'm not you and I'm not sinking to your level." He grabbed a fistful of Cooper's hair and slammed his head back, damn near giving him a concussion from that impact. "But that doesn't mean we can't have other kind of fun." He twirled his knife around, smirking at the way Cooper's eyes fearfully watched him do it. "And I know exactly what I should do right now. He tightened his grip on the handle and had every intention on doing his own castration because that was what he should have done in the first place. But before he could do it, a loud banging on the door and the sound of Connor screaming at the top of his lungs made him turn around.

"DADDY STOP IT! DADDY YOU LEAVE COOPY ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

James shook his head and took a deep breath, definitely not pleased that he was being interrupted. "I'm not doing anything Connor! Cooper and I are just talking!" He gave Cooper a look that promised pain if he screamed so he kept quiet.

Connor didn't buy it though. He knew better. He knew James was lying. He let out a feral snarl as he continued to bang the chair against the door as hard as he could, actually making the leg on it break off before throwing it down and kicking the door as hard as he could. Much to his (and James's) surprise, the door came swinging open just from that kick. "LIAR LIAR LIAR!" he screamed, launching himself at James and beating his fists against his chest. "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!"

"Connor!" James yelled, desperately trying to get a hold of his enraged son so he didn't get totally destroyed. "Stop it! I can explain-"

"MEAN MEAN MEAN!" Connor was WAY beyond hearing any explanation. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!" He swung his fist again and almost clocked James right in the face. James caught his wrist though and restrained him, beginning to push him back so he could get him out of there. What he underestimated though was just how much of a rage Connor was in. Knowing he only had one chance at this, he stomped on James's foot and shoved him into the house so he could slam the door and lock it so he couldn't get back in.

"Oh my God…" Cooper said in disbelief. "He is going to kill you…"

"I don't care!" Connor sniffled, his voice practically gone because of all his screaming. He went over to Cooper and yanked the knives out of his hand, making him yelp in pain in the process.

"Connor!" James yelled, getting ready to kick open the door himself when Connor grabbed the bench that was in there and used it to barricade the door. "Connor Michael you open this door!"

"NO!" Connor screamed. He didn't give a shit about the consequences of doing this. He helped Cooper up to his feet and dragged him to the other door so he could make his escape. That door was locked too but one swift kick to it took care of that. "Run Coopy! You gotta run!"

"I can't," Cooper said weakly. "I can't-"

"You will!" Connor snapped. "Because you'll die if you don't!" He planted a hard kiss to Cooper's lips and shoved him away. "Run! Run run run please run! I'll keep him back just go!"

Cooper didn't want to go without Connor because he knew that Connor was going to be in deep shit for helping him. But he had no choice. James was about to get him again and he knew that as much trouble as he was going to be in, Connor was in no life threatening danger for all of this. James wouldn't kill him. So with a very heavy heart and a screaming and reluctant heart he ran, leaving Connor to collapse on the floor and curl up in the fetal position so he could bawl his eyes out.


	28. Chapter 28

Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! NeroAnne**: It's definitely not looking like it at this rate. And aw, thank you.

…

"Jamie…!" Mindy gasped upon stumbling towards the garage door and clutching Elizabeth close.

James was sprawled on the floor already seeing red as he glared at the door to the garage which Connor barricaded from the opposite side. Elizabeth was crying so loudly it was hard to hear one think, but worriedly noticing how James was on the ground like that, Mindy reached out and touched his shoulder gently with curled lips.

"Darling, are you alright?"

"Does it LOOK like I'm alright?" he snapped his head to her and growled, making the young woman cradling the infant jump about two feet back in recoil. Her head shook frantically and she trembled a moment in astonishment before opening her mouth to speak nervously. "I'm sorry" reaching out he grabbed her by the arm and gave her a big kiss, "I didn't mean to bite Baby Doll" frantically a hand of his trailed down her face and he shook his head, "I'd never mean it, you know that I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please"

Her returned kiss and face-petting allowed him to know all was alright by her, "I love you, Jamie"

"I love you…" he kissed her and then Elizabeth's forehead, melting as his baby reached out to touch his face and pull him close by his hair, "Not yet, Lizzie Bear…"

"DA da da da!" she shouted while trying to rip him over by his hair, so he blew a raspberry on her stomach and made her squeal with delight before releasing his hair and letting him get back to his feet.

"Hold on…" he pointed a finger at Mindy and motioned for her to step further inside the house, "Baby Doll, I want you to keep the baby FAR away from this door, you hear me?"

"Why?" her lips pouted and she frowned, "What're ya gonna do to Connor?"

"Connor?" he snorted before shaking his head and sitting her on a counter with Elizabeth, "I still haven't murdered Cooper." He looked Elizabeth in the eye for a long moment before kissing her forehead and running a hand through her wispy blonde hair, "I'll be right back, okay Lizzie Bear? I'll be back for you"

"Dada!" she yelled out as he left and craned her neck to face her mother, who had a hole in her heart the size of Alaska at the thought of what James was going to do to Cooper. She didn't want to turn him in, the last thing she'd ever want to do was hurt him but Jeff was right when he spoke of not keeping things from the one she loved most. James was her husband, no matter what it was always going to be the two of them. She couldn't keep something so huge from him, she had to tell him. God only knew what would have happened if he had found out on his own along with knowing she was the one who knew all along and kept it from him. He was her husband, shit didn't fly that way. James was her baby and she had to protect him. Nothing would ever change that.

"JOSEPH!" effortlessly kicking the barricaded door open, James's blackish-brown eyes darted about sharply when he realized the table was abandoned, stains of blood still pooled there along with the knives just sitting on top of the smooth surface, "Oh…how nice!"

Wandering over with a manic grin James lifted the knives and twirled them around a bit before swiping a finger through the blood on the table, "Don't you fucking idiots know by now never to leave the weapon unattended?" he checked under the table and found no Cooper, pissing him off but the manic grin wouldn't tell anyone so, "Have I taught you nothing?"

Soft cries caught his attention, so curling his lips and cocking his head slowly James crept towards the sound with the knife over his head.

"Oh Joseph…" he called airily, "Joseph…" his smirk was enough to scare the hell out of any adult man, "come out, come out, wherever you are…"

Those soft cries hit him again, so without turning on the lights James crept further towards the sound and smirked, spotting a figure whimpering in the fetal position with his back to him, which only made James smile evilly and step closer. The closer he got, the lighter his steps became. The figure's crying only got louder and James now was close enough to be in perfect position. Unknown to the figure he stood there curiously, watching him cry for a long moment before gripping his knife and raising it above his head.

"I got rid of you for a reason, Joseph…"

Connor's eyes widened immensely at the reality of what James was doing.

"And I think I'm going to enjoy offing you again" his arm swept down and Connor shrieked, throwing his hand up to block the knife when James's blow went straight through and Amber flipped the lights on in the garage.

"Dad-WAHHHH!" her hand went over her mouth and she stumbled into Mindy and Tiffany who blocked the doorway, the both of them screaming as well when James realized that by following their horrified gazes that he'd stabbed Connor.

…

Stumbling and clutching his broken ribs for dear life but trying to also pay attention to his bleeding hands, Cooper's empty eyes watered with every passing moment.

His throat was dry, his heart was bust, and every single piece of him just wanted to fall over and rot. James yet again tried to kill him, Mindy was yet again manipulated into hating him, Connor was left by himself, and he honestly didn't want to win. James was right, he didn't try to win his way back into James's life. He should have lied low and stay under the radar, but what did his dumb ass do? He had a sexual relationship with Connor. He knew a long time ago how Mindy felt about incest, he knew she would have told; which made him think…did he WANT her to tell on him so he could get killed? Could all this have been one giant planned suicide? He was starting to think so.

He could resent James all he wanted, but James was right. He didn't deserve to live, he was a reflection of his grandfather. He deserved to die. Joseph was a piece of shit who loved to rape innocent girls…Cooper was a piece of shit who raped his stepmother and slept with his brother. He deserved to die.

Somewhere in the city he was hoping to just stumble and die. He officially didn't know where he was or what he'd do there, but he knew Mindy's financial support days were officially over anyway. There was no more 'her' money and 'James's' money…it was THEIRS, meaning James had total jurisdiction over everything and could force Mindy to cut him off. That little house would be sold from under him and god knows, maybe Trygger would finally get his room.

Finding a suitable alley, Cooper gagged and spit up blood on his way into it, knocking over a few trashcans and nearly bowling himself over when he hit his head on the brick and passed out.

…

Holding her trucker hat so the nighttime desert wind wouldn't sweep it off the top of her blonde head, the young hooker clutched her green and black flannel closer to her skin while jogging towards the pink glowing eyeball read, 'Private's Eyes' on top. It hung above a door and quickly sucking a breath, the platinum blonde pulled open the door and gave the bouncer a nod before shaking out of stringy blonde hair and catching her breath.

"Traffic jam?" the bouncer asked the blonde cheekily, and she gave him a sarcastic smile before raising her eyebrows. He knew she didn't have a car.

"Where's Penn?" she pouted her lips worriedly and glanced around all the men seated at the bar and around the stage, the volume of the music maddening because it wasn't the song she stripped to. Strippers coated in glitter and sweat danced around on poles with the old pervert sticking dollars in their g-strings, it made the platinum blonde grit her teeth and shiver a bit in fear of what was going to happen to her.

"I dunno…" the bouncer frowned and shrugged indifferently, "he's always around here somewhere, you know that."

"Fuck do I know that…" her teeth chattered a bit and she sighed, deciding to maybe slip into her outfit and head for the stage when her shoulder was grabbed and her back smashed against the wall.

Her eyes smothered in black eyeshadow widened in shock only for a moment as she finally faced the last person she wanted to see. His rancid breath was already on her while his short dark hair actually shone in the dim light.

"What time is it?" he barked at her while pointing to his gold Rolex. She was too startled to respond, so he pressed further and growled. "I said what FUCKIN' time is it, bitch?"

"E-" she stuttered before finally swallowing and gaining composure, "Eleven fifteen!"

"Eleven fifteen…" the medium-framed man repeated with a nod, "and what time's your fuckin' shift start?"

Now she cringed, "Eleven?"

"You better" he was an inch from her face, speaking through clenched teeth, "have a GOOD fucking explanation this time…"

She was always late. She was actually surprised he didn't fire her by now.

"I couldn't find my shoes…" she frowned and swayed a bit, motioning to her four-inch heels which made the skinny thing almost his height, and he scoffed her excuse before shaking his head and letting her start for the back where her dressing room was located.

"I can't keep letting you get off like this, you know!" he shouted at her even though it went in one ear and out the other, "You're running out of excuses!"

"Ugh…" the blonde groaned before walking into the back dressing rooms and being overwhelmed by the number of topless women strutting about stark naked. "What's up, ladies?" her raspy voice announced apathetically, not really even paying attention to who was noticing when her arm was grabbed and dragged to the side by her redhead and dirty blonde friend. "What?" she groaned while peering towards her mirror, "Did Shayna steal my mirror again?" with a shake of the head she rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, "I've been meaning to hand her ass to her."

"Did he fire you?" the redhead asked the platinum blonde and she shrugged, waving it off and starting for her chair.

"Make me give a fuck" she sighed before nearly collapsing in her chair and tearing the flannel off to reveal the skimpy lingerie she wore which was ivory in color. "Slow night?"

"They're biting" the redhead nodded while eyeballing the blonde's pitifully thin frame, "And you need to quit with the smoking, you know? I can make a diagram of your bones"

"No you can't" the blonde snorted before reaching for her makeup since no one did it for her, "you didn't even finish ninth grade."

"Touchy, bitch!" the redhead shook her head at the blonde and strolled off, "You're lucky you still have a job"

"You're lucky he's let you keep your face" Taylor shouted at her while flipping her long middle finger covered in black nail polish at her, "whore"

"Speak for yourself" the dirty blonde snipped before flipping her hair and heading off.

"GOOD one…" the platinum blonde sighed sarcastically and tried to ignore whatever gossip was being spread about her in the dressing room. She wasn't stupid, she knew they all fucking hated her. "Bitches."

…

With her stringy hair flying everywhere the platinum blonde came out to an unknown song and pretended all the men were naked too as she stripped and danced on the pole. She didn't mind this as much as the actual prostituting. It paid better and she at least got asked for an encore.

…

Heading backstage the platinum blonde noticed all the girls were gathered around something, squealing and shaking their heads at it.

"Yo, what what what is all this?" the platinum blonde asked upon entering the room and shoved the shorter girls aside to see a handsome young man that was all-too familiar to her passed out on the floor.

"Kaylee found him" one brunette pointed to another blonde who was ogling Cooper lying on the ground there practically dead, "I know him!"

"So do I" the platinum blonde shook her head and knelt over Cooper, swatting the girls away with a roll of her eyes, "And give him some ROOM, Christ my god!"

She shook her head as the girls backed away cursing and her hand reached out to touch Cooper's cheekbones.

"What have you done, rich boy…?" she sighed at the wounds all over the place and shook her head, "You just keep digging yourself…" curling her lips she looked to a bouncer meant to protect the strippers before running a hand through her hair, "Call a cab, will you?"

"Where to?" the bouncer frowned while pulling out his cell phone, the blonde staring at the twenty-five dollars she'd gotten stuffed in her panties as paycheck and she sighed.

"My place."

Cabs were overly expensive so she never took them, she needed to buy food and pay for the rent, electric, and groceries…but this guy was dying and she couldn't help herself.


	29. Chapter 29

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **firewing pegasus: **Mindy is a paranoid schizophrenic. I don't know if you've read Savior or Mommy Dearest (the two stories that go before this one in the series Vermi and I are doing) but it's been established that she is a very mentally ill woman. She's on medication yes but the meds don't take her illness away or even mute it really. She's still very severely sick so yeah, she will do or say things that set herself up to be a victim but really, she can't really help it. **NeroAnne**: James is just…yeah, there was just like a break in reality in his mind or something. His mind just screamed "Kill Cooper kill Cooper kill Cooper" and then he stabbed Connor…bad James, bad.

…

James's hands shook uncontrollably as he walked around the room. The doctors were working on Connor now and they were waiting in their own private waiting room because the paparazzi kept trying to get in and bug Mindy, which was the last thing any of them wanted to deal with at the moment. Amber, Thorn and Scarlett were huddled all together, petting Oxa, who was keeping a close eye on Snoopy and Spike, who were both very very distressed at the moment. Nobody had actually intended on bringing either of them but they had came downstairs and had noticed Connor was hurt so they jumped in the car before anyone could think to keep them out. Snoopy had gotten very upset when he hadn't been allowed to stay with Connor and had whined and howled so much that it took both Tryg and Tiffany twenty minutes to calm him back down. Now he was quiet but he was still far from happy. He had parked himself at Tiffany's feet (who was holding an upset Tryg) and he had his eyes trained on the door, not taking his eyes off of it for an instant. Mindy was trying to comfort James while holding Elizabeth and Chelsea was trying to get his attention by following right behind him but he was freaking out too much to really notice.

He had stabbed Connor. He had fucking stabbed Connor. His mind was trying to shut that out because he couldn't stand the thought of it but he knew there was no escaping from it. He had just stabbed his own child and the guilt was tearing him apart. What the hell had he been thinking? Why hadn't he paid more attention to what he was doing? He had been so focused on Cooper that when he had saw Connor on the floor, he didn't stop to think that it WAS Connor. His mind went straight to Cooper and had tried to finish what he had started ages ago. It had proved to be a major major mistake and he couldn't get over it. He didn't care how upset he was when Connor once again went against him and sided with Cooper; the last thing he had wanted to ever do was harm Connor. Connor didn't know any better; any defense he made for Cooper was just because he didn't get that after what he had done, there was no way James could ever allow Cooper to stay in the family. It was frustrating that Connor didn't get it but that didn't mean that he had EVER wanted what had happened to happen. Not ever.

"Dada!" Elizabeth said impatiently, not liking that all of his attention wasn't on her. She reached her arms out and pouted at him. "Dada!"

Chelsea gave Elizabeth a cross look before hugging James's leg possessively. "MY Daddy!"

"No!" Elizabeth snapped. "Dada!"

Chelsea shook her head and hugged James's leg even more tightly. James knew he should be defusing the situation between them but he was really in no state to do so. He couldn't even hold them because his hands weren't steady enough to do it. He would drop them and he didn't want that. He had hurt enough of his children for one night.

"Is Connor going to die?" Scarlett asked innocently.

"No," Mindy said, her tone getting a tad bit sharp because the question had made James's face get significantly paler. She was the only one who didn't seem to be upset with James at all. She was not happy that Connor had gotten hurt but she had no interest in even holding James responsible. Everyone else damn well knew that it was his fault but she wouldn't hear another word about it. "Don't ask that, that's a dumb question. Connor's going to be fine."

"But Daddy stabbed him," Scarlett said, really not getting that now was not only the wrong time, but Mindy was the wrong person to say that to. Mindy did not want anything to be James's fault ever so she wasn't about to let that happen now. "And people die when Daddy stabs them."

"Well Connor is NOT going to die," Mindy said, her voice getting even sharper than before. "He had an accident but he's going to be just fine."

"Oh yes," Tiffany said sarcastically as she hugged Tryg even more tightly. She was beyond upset at James and she didn't give a damn that it was an accident. The way she saw it, James knew Connor was in the garage and he should have looked more carefully before he started stabbing people. "He had a near fatal accident because some playing in the dark with knives took place. Yup yup yup, that's EXACTLY what happened."

James sank down into the nearest chair as Mindy gave Tiffany a withering glare. He felt absolutely sick to his stomach. What the fuck had he been thinking? Had he gone completely retarded? Fuck, he was a fucking horrible person. His own parents hadn't even stabbed him as a child (although it hadn't been for a lack of trying). What kind of person did that really make him?

"Daddy," Chelsea said, climbing up into his lap and making herself quite comfortable. She had no real idea what was going on. She was too little and too absorbed in her world of Daddy to give a shit.

"Hey honey," he finally croaked out, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. Elizabeth pouted her lips and fussed until Mindy sat down next to him and placed her on his other leg, making Chelsea frown and glare at her baby sister. Elizabeth of course, being the little shit that she was, blew a raspberry at the Autistic toddler and laughed her ass off afterwards.

"Am I going to be in trouble?" Thorn asked suddenly, surprising all of them.

"Why would you be in trouble?" Amber asked. She had been keeping her mouth shut because she knew that was probably the best thing to do at the moment. Mindy had her claws out and speaking and risking saying the wrong thing just wasn't the smart thing to do at the moment.

"Because I told Connor that Daddy was going to kill Cooper," Thorn confessed. "I saw you drag him in there Daddy and then I told Connor you were going to chop him up and feed him to Oxa."

"Thorn…" that was all Tiffany could even begin to say as James shook his head.

"You're not in trouble," he told her, struggling to get the words out because of the baseball sized lump in his throat. "So don't worry about that, okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Thorn seemed satisfied by that and he almost felt a tiny bit better until he caught the look Tryg was giving him. "Tarzan-"

"Is Connor bad now like Cooper?" the four year old asked gravely. "Is that why you stabbed him?"

"No!" Mindy said, shaking her head at Tryg as James's face turned a horrible pale color. "Baby it was an accident, remember? It was an ACCIDENT!"

"Oh." Tryg rested his head back against Tiffany as Snoopy got up to stretch and give James a dirty look. It was as if he knew what had happened and was furious for it. And James couldn't take it anymore. His stomach was twisting too tightly and he jumped up to his feet while holding on to Chelsea and all but sprinted out of the room, barely even hearing Mindy call after him. He refused to stop until he got into the bathroom (which was mercifully empty) and he set Chelsea down so he could double over in the nearest stall and gag uncontrollably. Nothing came up but just doing that settled his stomach a little bit.

"Jamie?" Mindy said, bursting right in and not giving a shit that it was the men's restroom. "Jamie!"

"Dada!" Elizabeth said as her mother hugged her daddy and pressed kissed all over his back.

"Jamie darling its okay!" Mindy assured him. She let him straighten back up before going all over him. "It's okay it's okay it's okay! Jamie baby it's okay!"

"Not it's not," James replied, shaking his head vehemently. "It's not okay-"

"Yes it is!" Mindy insisted. She practically leaped into his arms so she could start pressing kisses all over his face. "It was an accident Jamie! You thought he was Cooper, you didn't know it was him."

"But I should have been more careful Baby Doll!" he said miserably. "I fucking didn't-"

She cut him off with a kiss, not about to let him take the blame (even though he did need to take responsibility for what he did). "No," she said stubbornly. "You didn't mean it I know you didn't. It was an accident. Accidents happen."

He nodded along, eagerly accepting her words because the guilt he was feeling was really just too much for him to handle. He rarely had guilt about anything he did, so when he did feel it, it always overwhelmed him. "I didn't mean it Baby Doll," he said, trying to convince her even though there was no need to do so. "I swear I didn't mean it." He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into the crook of her neck. "Fucking shit Baby Doll, I thought he was Cooper. I swear I fucking thought he was Cooper."

"Sssshhh," she cooed, kissing him for all he was worth while Chelsea hugged his leg. "I know baby I know. It was an accident you never would have done it on purpose."

"I should have-" James found himself being cut off with a kiss again and he willingly accepted it, sliding his tongue into Mindy's mouth and making out with her until his lungs were literally burning.

"It was an accident," Mindy said, stepping on her tiptoes so she could press her forehead against his better. "It was an accident and its all going to be okay. Connor's going to be fine and it'll be okay. You'll see."

James wasn't as sure about that, but he was still going to hope like hell she was right.

…

_The sound of a loud crash jarred Cooper out of the doze he had fallen into. He had been trying to fall asleep and had once again been failing miserably at it. It had been four months since he had had a proper night of sleep. Four months ago his mother died and life as he knew it had fallen apart. His father had suffered a nervous breakdown and rarely left his room anymore. Connor was alternating between clinging to him like a life preserver and running off and acting out in all sorts of nasty ways. Then there was him, who had absolutely no idea what to do. He couldn't sleep without dreaming about her, he could hardly eat and he hadn't gone to school in forever and was risking falling behind because he wasn't keeping up on his homework. He wanted-no NEEDED her back but she wasn't coming. She was never coming back. The cancer had slowly murdered her and then taken her away for good just as they thought she had beat it for good. It had been cruel and had mocked them all and now they were all drowning in their misery. It was horrible and there seemed to be no way out. Annabelle had been the anchor for the family and without her, they were all lost._

_Knowing there was no use in just laying in bed at this point, Cooper threw the covers back and got up. Connor was still sleeping in the spot next to him but he just left him there, going downstairs to see what was going on._

"_Fucking hell Lawson, would you relax?" he heard Mark say as another crash sounded through the house. "You can't fucking-"_

"_Stop telling me what to do!" James snapped, his voice not even his own even more. He sounded worn and tired and most importantly, broken. His heart had shattered the day Annabelle had died and there seemed to be no putting it back together. "Just stop!"_

"_Damn it Lawson you're about to fucking keel over!" Mark snapped back. "Stop straining yourself, you're too weak! You need to EAT! I've told you this a thousand times-"_

"_I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry-"_

"_You're fading away Lawson. You're starving yourself and how are you planning on going on hunting when you have no strength? Huh?"_

"_Daddy?" Cooper said hesitantly, entering the kitchen and interrupting the conversation._

_Mark and James both looked over at him but Cooper hardly noticed Mark. James's appearance always frightened him these days. James had lost a tremendous amount of weight during the past few months; he literally was skin and bones at this point. He would only eat when Mark force fed him because he simply had no appetite anymore. He just said the food tasted like ashes and wouldn't touch it._

"_Hey," James said softly, trying to take a step towards him but almost collapsing out of pure weakness. Mark literally had to catch him before he hit the floor. "Are you okay?"_

_Cooper didn't answer because he couldn't lie but he didn't want to upset James any more than he already was either. Mark just shook his head and began dragging James towards the stairs. "I'm taking you back to bed and then I'm getting you something to eat. This is absolutely fucking ridiculous Lawson. You CAN"T do this to yourself."_

_James whined and tried to fight Mark, escaping only because he was able to slip out of his shirt and stumble backwards until he fell down. Cooper quickly looked away because he could see all of his father's ribs poking out beneath the skin and it made him want to cry. Even Mark just had to stop and stare at James before scooping him up and carrying him in a wedding carry. Cooper glanced at them from the corner of his eye and then it was all too much for him to take. Without even thinking about what he was doing he took off running, going out the back door and ignoring Mark's shout for him to come back. He just ran, doing his best to outrun his issues because he didn't know what to do anymore. He just wanted an escape. Was that really too much to ask?_

_He ran until he got to the nearby park and then he collapsed and just laid there for awhile, just wanting to die on the spot because living was too hard. He couldn't do this fucking shit. This wasn't fair. He lost his mother, he was seemingly losing his father, his brother depended on him and acted like he knew what he was doing when he really had no fucking clue at all…he hated it. He hated this life and just wanted to die._

_When he didn't just die on the spot like he wanted to, he sat up and looked around. It was dark and it was chilly but he hardly cared. There was just enough light for him to see that there was a homeless man sleeping on the ground not too far away from him. The hobos loved to inhabit the park at night. That was why this was one of James's favorite hunting spots. He loved picking off people that wouldn't really be missed. It just made the whole thing that much easier._

_Cooper found himself suddenly getting up and grabbing a branch that had fallen off a tree when lightning had struck it during the last thunderstorm they had had. It was kind of heavy but he managed to get a good grip on it and tiptoed over to the sleeping man, wrinkling his nose at the smell he was emitting. He knew that Annabelle would never ever approve of this because she hated it when James did it but he didn't know what else to do. He needed something to help him and this always helped James. Maybe this would have that same effect on him._

_Letting loose a feral cry, Cooper raised the branch over his head and struck his victim on the head. The man's eyes popped open in surprise but he got no chance to defend himself. Cooper kept raining down blows on him, bashing his brains into a bloody pulp. Cooper was screaming without even knowing it, letting out months and months of pain and frustration, eventually dropping the branch out of exhaustion and sobbing because he couldn't hold it in anymore. He almost dropped down to his knees in the bloody grass but a pair of bony arms grabbed him and hugged him tightly so he wouldn't fall. _

"_It's okay," James said, even though he probably didn't even believe that himself. "It's okay. It's going to be okay…"_

Cooper woke up with tears running down his cheeks and it took him several minutes to realize he was in a place he didn't even recognize. "What the fuck?" he said in disbelief. He looked around, freaking out because he didn't know where he was or how he got there. "Shit shit shit…" The last thing he had remembered was stumbling through the streets, looking for a way to die-which didn't sound half bad at this point. He attempted to get up but suddenly got dizzy and went crashing down to the floor instead, jarring his ribs so bad that he passed out from the pain and didn't hear the blonde girl yell at him for trying to get up when he wasn't supposed to.


	30. Chapter 30

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **firewing pegasus: **Connor's a Lawson so he's tough. He got fucked up pretty badly but he's still a tough cookie so he's got that going for him. No Cooper is not one for hugs. And as for the other two stories, I would say reading them is strongly recommended, simply because there are things referenced from them (especially Mommy Dearest) that you might not get otherwise.

…

"Hey hey hey hey rich boy, NO!"

Two bony hands shoved Cooper back down on the cot by his shoulders and he winced, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing through his teeth at the sudden sharp pains reverberating through his system. He winced and drew yet another harsh breath as those bony hands held him there, cheaply painted black nails digging into his shirt frantically to keep the large man down.

"No, no, no, no, no keep your ass down, rich boy!" her raspy voice told him again, and he took a moment to breathe, actually smelling jasmine in the air before peeling his eyes.

He was lying on a cot which seemed up fold up into the only closet in this studio apartment with purple walls coated with chipped paint, a maroon torn carpet, oak furniture, a kitchenette, what appeared to be a bathroom, and a small TV with a little pink blowup couch in front of it.

"What?" he croaked while trying to sneak a peek out the one window in the whole place, "Where the hell am I?"

Blindly he stuck a hand up to realize it was completely bandaged and taken care of, meaning he certainly was a far cry from being home. Everyone hated him there, so he had to be already dead.

"Home sweet home…" the blonde shrugged while placing what looked like a little first aid kid down and cringing at the look on Cooper's face as he lay on her makeshift bed, "well…at least for me."

She watched as his baby blue eyes continued to trace around the tiny place with literally two rooms, the main one and a bathroom.

"Sorry it isn't your palace" she replied to the expression on his face before standing and bending over the bed to check on the status of his ribs which were bound…only then did he realize he was half naked on her bed and he twitched, "Stop it, alright?" rolling her eyes she reached a hand to run along the covered internal wounds, "I look at naked guys for a living, I'm not an idiot."

"Who…" he shivered at his surroundings and tried to sit up once more but she refused to let him do so, "why am I here? Where the fuck am I?"

"Safe in the projects" she responded coolly while raising her dark eyebrows, "Mommy and Daddy won't be looking for you here"

"They're not looking for me at ALL!" he snapped at her though she didn't even flinch, "My dad just fucking tied me to a god damn table to crucify me! Try living with yourself after THAT!"

"Is Daddy a sadist?" she sat on a table nonchalantly and began lightly running her fingers through her lengthy stringy hair, moving her legs into a pretzel and pulling out a cigarette, "Or did you do something to bring that on yourself?"

"What makes you think I'd tell you anything?" he propped himself up on his elbows and scowled, making the young girl shrug and pull out her lighter for her cigarette.

"Besides the fact that you owe me your life?" she shrugged, "I dunno…I just thought maybe you'd realize you're a dumbshit and have no idea how to breathe on your own"

"Excuse me?" his face hardened when she shrugged apathetically.

"You heard me…" she narrowed her eyes and took a drag of her cigarette, "I think I've counted three times now that I've totally and completely saved your ass"

"And what if I didn't WANT to be saved?"

"Then I suggest the psych ward" she nodded with pouted thin lips, "because that's just plain suicide"

"So?" he yelled when she shrugged and took another long drag of her cigarette, "And give me one of those"

"Taylor" she said stiffly and made his big blue eyes meet hers confusedly, "Give me one of those, TAYLOR…"

"You said your name was Michel…"

"Michel Taylor is my first and last name in reverse, dipshit" frowning at his bloodied bandages which she soon had to change, the blonde sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "My name is Taylor Michel"

"And you're a fucking stripper-"

"That's only HALF my night job, asshole" she spat with heavy venom while debating tossing him a cigarette, "I don't get this place for free"

"I thought hookers live in whorehouses"

"Not this one" she sighed while sliding off the table and slowly striding towards the window ledge, "This one works three jobs all pretty much under the black market"

"So it doesn't get taken out with tax…" he recited slowly and watched her nod.

"The only good thing about working for tips…" she nodded before freezing, "Oh! But half of what I get for two-thirds of my jobs goes to Penn"

"Who?" he shook his head confusedly, when she realized the error and immediately corrected that.

"My boss" she replaced 'owner' respectfully and nodded with a sniffle, "He keeps me employed by night, and I'm self-employed by day."

"Doing what?" he raised an eyebrow when her eyes drifted to the wall across from her bed, where a gigantic poster of Mindy Stratus hung and the appearance was strikingly similar to the way Taylor looked now.

The poster had his step mother with hip-length thick platinum blonde hair wearing practically nothing, yet straddling a mic stand and leaning all the way over so her cleavage was practically busting out of the lacy black bra. Though Mindy claimed she never did nudes, the 'bra' was clearly see-through as were the panties. The raccoon-like eye makeup she wore mirrored Taylor's and the overall look on her face screamed Taylor.

"Your mom's really hot" she said blindly while noticing his eyes were on that painting, and that comment alone made him cringe and stare at her like she was insane. "Are you kidding?" she rolled her eyes and groaned, "Honey…everyone knows who you are. It's no big 'secret'. Your dad owns Likansuk and your mom's my fucking idol."

"My mom's not a whore"

"She wasn't trapped"

"OH yes she was" he nodded stiffly, "She was posing in g-strings at seventeen so thirty-year-old pervs could jack off to her"

"No older than me" Taylor shrugged while taking a drag of her cigarette.

"No fucking way"

"I'll be eighteen in July"

"What? How could you even…?" he panted, it made no sense. For that she released a long sigh and drummed her fingers on the wall below the old hung poster.

"I work for Penn for a reason"

"He owns this place?"

"I do" she shook her head and leaned over her windowsill, "I paid Penn in cash I stole from my parents and he got me this piece of shit. My name's on the papers they can't take it from me"

"And don't your parents wonder where you are?"

"Not when you set your dreams on something Mommy and Daddy would sooner be shot dead than see you fulfilling"

"Pole dancing…?" he wasn't amused, and she scowled before rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah. Because I just woke up one morning and was totally stoked to fuck strangers in the bathroom and hope they give me extra to suck their dick"

"Look, YOU were the one who-"

"Your mom was seventeen when she made it…" her eyes drifted to the poster and she nodded a bit, "It's a stupid idea"

"Very"

"But…" she shrugged, "it's what I love to do"

"Great career choice" he nodded sarcastically, "And only point-two percent of people actually make it"

"Oh yeah?" her eyebrows rose defensively and she jerked her head his way, "And what's YOUR lifelong plan Mr. Holier-than-thou? Suicide?"

"That would have been nice" he nodded at her sharply, "If you would have been a fucking man about it and actually left me the fuck alone"

"But I'm a chick" she corrected with narrowed eyes.

"And I fucking hate chicks"

"I'm sure Mommy would agree…" she pointed out smugly, making Cooper bite his tongue and want to knock her in the face.

"Whatever you think you know…

"

"Normal stepsons don't grab their mommy's ass and hook up with them…just saying."

"What-"

"Everyone knows, buddy" she raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Penn works with Likansuk, they draw actors from Private's Eyes where I work"

"And would you be interested in a job?"

"Would you like to keep your face?" she nodded with wide eyes, "Then shut the fuck up. I'd kill to get paid what Daddy's company gives your actors but unfortunately I don't want to do that"

"What the hell do you think you know about my dad?"

"He's sexy as hell" she shrugged, "What else is there for me to actually know? Your mom's amazing and your dad beats that bonehead she was stuck with any day"

"That's all a matter of preference"

"Honey…" she leaned forwards and smirked, "the things I would do to your dad…" she sniggered and shook her head with a sigh, "you don't wanna know"

"No" he shook his head firmly, "I really don't."

"Why were you trying to kill yourself, rich boy?" she asked a bit sternly while raising her eyebrows, "With a polly-perfect Mommy and Daddy I don't see any incentive for ever wanting to do so"

"Well obviously you don't fucking live with him" he snarled while trying to sit up in the cot, "He's a fucking animal"

"I don't see how" she shrugged and he narrowed his eyes contemptuously.

"Oh, you have no fucking idea…" his head shook dangerously, "You just don't"

"Really now?" her eyebrows rose and she slinked over to the bed before sitting right at his feet with wide eyes, "Well why don't you kick back and tell Dr. Taylor all about it?"

"Because Dr. Taylor isn't a licensed medical professional"

"That can be arranged" she nodded when he cringed before shaking his head.

"PLEASE no…"

"Then talk, buddy" she shrugged and nodded at him with big eyes, "I'm not going anywhere until later."

"And what the hell do I do while you're gone?"

"Well" she shrugged and motioned to the apartment, "You can either come with, or sit around and watch TV."

"What channels do you have?"

"Does this look like the fucking Ritz?" she spat and rose both her hands a bit, "Basic cable, buddy. I gotta eat too, you know."

By the looks of her it seemed she didn't do so often.

"I smoke to cut cravings so I don't waste dinero on food and channel it more towards things like electric and water" she slid a pack into her hands and jerked her head towards him, "Your turn."

"Where are you going later?"

"None of your fucking business, rich boy" she responded quite coldly, "I don't tell you shit until you stop treating me like gum under your shoe"

"You're a prostitute"

"Have you ever been desperate in your life?" she asked while popping her weight to the left, "Have you ever gone hungry? Have you ever spent a night on the street for real? You haven't?" she feigned a frown, "Then don't fucking judge me."

…

Watching Mindy return holding James's hand reassuringly, Tiffany narrowed her eyes in disgust. The way Mindy just stood on the tips of her toes and pet his face like he was this helpless victim made Tiffany's stomach turn because she noticed a pattern already. A very bad pattern which she feared would lead her best friend down a very bad road yet again. She loved Mindy to death and beyond, but the girl was completely blind and had selective perceptions of those she loved most. Trygger was a complete psycho in the making but Mindy was too blind to see how much he'd actually inherited from his real father. The girl was a blooming idiot and it was really starting to get to Tiffany that she was so valiantly defending him just like she defended Kane. It was just all kinds of signs of things to come that she'd let him get away with, and Tiffany was just not willing to sit by and watch it happen again.

"Jamie…" frowning and clutching his hand as tightly as she could, Mindy curled her lips and took a quick breath at the distressed look on his face and began to loudly whimper, "It's not your fault, Jamie! Stop being sad, stop being SAD Jamie, PLEASE stop being sad!"

Staring at his soft his eyes were and hugging herself, Mindy stamped her foot and cried a bit louder, growing more distressed every moment.

"Stop it Jamie, please it's NOT your fault! PLEASE Jamie, please, please, please!" tears were coming down her face and the way she was hopelessly tugging at James's arm to make him stop being upset made Tiffany sick so she stood from her seat with Tryg and approached Mindy.

"Loo!" she shouted and quickly approached her best friend acting like a complete whiny child, "Get over here!"

"What?" Mindy spun around and raised an eyebrow at Tiffany only to be grabbed by the arm which she obviously didn't like. "No, Taryn no no no" she shook her head frantically and hugged James's waist, which made Tiffany scowl and shake her head in disgust at Mindy.

"Oh, you know what?" her nose wrinkled and she grabbed Mindy by her hair, "I'm fucking sick" she ripped Mindy's arms from James and pulled her away, "Of THIS and what happens as a result of this!"

"Taryn-"

"NO!"

"Please, Mommy" Tryg frowned and reached to hug Mindy's neck, James just walking away from Mindy without another word, which clearly was making her crazy and Tiffany couldn't take it.

"LOO! STOP IT!" grabbing her by the hair Tiffany literally pulled the tiny young woman out of the room and almost flung her against the cold tiled wall inside the women's bathroom.

Mindy clearly winced and flinched as the back of her head collided with the tile, but Tiffany honestly didn't care.

"WHAT are you doing?" Tiffany shouted at her as Mindy arched her spine and shook her head, ripping her hair out of Tiffany's grasp until Tryg reached out and quickly clutched his mother like she would break at any given moment.

"What…" Mindy's suddenly began to shake like a rattle and her plump lips quivered, "what do you-"

"Does ANY of this even seem maybe REMOTELY FAMILIAR?" she screamed at her best friend and Mindy furrowed her brow confusedly, scoffing the ground and clutching Tryg close to her chest.

"My Jamie is-"

"NEED I remind you" she interrupted, not even caring at this point she was so angry, "That Connor did absolutely NOTHING to him yet that PSYCHO FREAK you married completely butchered him! And for WHAT?" she watched Mindy's face and Tiffany knew she was going to interject for calling James those things but she didn't let her, "NO! Don't you even THINK you're justified in defending him!"

"HE COULDN'T SEE!" she screamed at Tiffany, "HE COULDN'T SEE! HE COULDN'T SEE! IT WAS DARK!"

"BULLSHIT!" Tiffany screamed right back at her and barred her teeth, "He was out for fucking blood and since Cooper wasn't around, the idiot just stabbed whoever the fuck was there and-"

"It was an ACCIDENT"

"One he can NOT afford to make! That's his own SON!" she screamed at Mindy and shook her head, tears springing to her eyes that she was actually doing this, "And I KNOW you love Connor, alright? I know how much his behavior has been hurting you, but-"

"But WHAT?" she snapped, "Jamie couldn't see it was a innocent mistake what do you want the poor baby to do?"

"I want you to stop defending him, and I want you to stop it now" she pointed a threatening finger at Mindy and shook her head, "THAT is a man who stabbed his own son…THAT is a man who kills just for the sick power rush he gets for killing…THAT is a man who strung you along while being crazy in love with both your ex in-law and his dead sister, and THAT is a man who raped, beat, tortured, and completely mutilated you under a 'spiritual attack' by his dead mother- WHO HE KILLED by the way!"

"That was real!" the paranoid schizophrenic stamped her foot and shouted at Tiffany, "THAT WAS REAL, IT WAS!"

"Bullshit" was all Tiffany could say while folding her arms across her chest, "You know who else you fucking justified for every little fucking thing he did?" She knew Mindy wouldn't answer that so she did for her. "KANE. KANE was your darling misunderstood sweetheart with a nasty habit of drinking, smoking, heroin, and savagely pummeling his own wife in front of his children. Your precious late husband turned you into a fucking DOG for him and you know what?" she shrugged and motioned towards the hallway near the private waiting room they were all in, "I really don't see much of a difference between the way you act towards James and the way you acted towards Kane"

"I HATED him"

"No you didn't" Tiffany shook her head with raised eyebrows, "You didn't hate that man for one single moment. You hated that he didn't love you. You hated that he left you, you hated that he forced things on you…but you know you loved it when he made you cry, and when he made you bleed or bruise…" she watched how Mindy was keeping Tryg's head over her mouth so Tiffany couldn't see how she was crying, "you loved how insignificant and demure he made you feel, because that's all you've ever known and it's NOT your fault! But getting involved with THAT train wreck over there" she pointed out towards the waiting room yet again, "That is entirely your fault! He's gonna HURT YOU, Loo-loo! He STABBED HIS OWN SON and here you are fucking babying him"

"You LOVED him before this"

"I loved him because YOU do!" Tiffany shouted at her while throwing her arms out, "I love YOU! I HAVE A husband I should be with right now, but where does that leave you and the babies? Alone with HIM? No thank you, he teaches your toddlers how to hack away at innocent people and I find it disgusting. He's only coming to you now because you stroke that monster-sized ego of his every two god damn seconds and feed him all that bullshit he wants to hear! Stop hurting yourself this way, Loo, I LOVE YOU!" she knew how Mindy was crying so she threw her arms around her best friend and kissed the side of her head, sobbing loudly herself, "I just don't want to see another Kane hurt you…I don't want to watch that again, PLEASE do me one…the man's a monster you NEED to correct him!"

"He didn't do it on purpose"

"Whether it was on purpose or NOT, babe…" she frowned and ran a hand through Mindy's thick raven hair, "he still did it. In everyone's eyes he's guilty as charged and yeah sure he feels bad now, but he sure as hell didn't mind doing it"

"He did not know it was Connor"

"Stop defending him when you and I both know he should have been more careful" Tiffany sniffled and pressed her forehead against Mindy's, "Why can't you just put your foot down for once? Give him a lesson?"

"Because enough people gaved him them and Mommy was mean to him too and so was Daddy and I can't be mean, no…" her eyes were completely saturated as she shook her head drearily, "he'll get mad"

"And what?" she raised an eyebrow, "HIT you? You honestly think I would ever let him HIT you?"

"No…" she croaked and shook her head, "but…"

"But WHAT?"

"If I get mad he won't love me no more, I can't Taryn!" she whined and gripped Tiffany's low-cut shirt in her hands, "I can't, I can't, I can't!"

"YES" her eyebrows raised and she grabbed Mindy's upper arms, slightly shaking her, "You CAN!"

"No" her head shook and Tiffany shrugged.

"Well where's he going? Heaven? He can't leave you-"

"Because he is STUCK" she reminded her with a shake of the head, "He can unstuck himself too if he wants and put me away"

"But he HASN'T but I don't care about that, Loo! I care about him keeping you around to take all his frustrations out!"

"And why would my Jamie do that?"

"Hmmm how about because he's a bastard? I mean" she scowled, "What if he got mad at Tryggy? Or Lizzie Bear?

"Jamie would NEVER-"

"Obviously you don't know him too well, Loo" she sighed and popped her weight, "The man's a pitbull he can't be trusted"

"I don't think so"

"You didn't think so about Kane either"

"And I-"

"Loved him to no end."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"I'M not…" she shook her head and spun Mindy around so she could see her own reflection, "but YOU are."

"Nope. Not my Jamie"

"PLEASE just stop it and see what's wrong so you can correct appropriately!"

"I can't" she argued yet again, "What if Mark or Sissy comes back again and they're better than me?"

"FIRST of all, Loo" she growled at Mindy and shook her head, "If he EVER thinks about pulling a fast one on you I'll roast him myself, and second, if you keep babying him he'll start using that to his benefit and just hide behind you every time he fucks up"

"And I will protect him Taryn, I HAVE to"

"I don't support you" she shook her head firmly, "I want you to know how SICK and FUCKED of you it is to side with that man, and this is coming from someone who adores the hell out of you. First he kills Matt, then he scares away Phil, then he stabs Connor-"

"They are not related" she shook her head confusedly, "Not at all."

"YOU may not see it, Loo, but I do" she nodded, "And he may end up killing the wrong person and then what? Where does that leave you?"

"I LOVE him"

"WHY?" she screamed and ripped Mindy closer by her shoulder, "WHY are you so fucking tied up with all these bullshit families?"

"Look at me, Taryn…" she slapped a hand to her side and shrugged, "What choice do you think I really have"

"You're Mindy fucking Stratus-"

"Lawson" she corrected coldly, "My name is Lawson"

"You're still Stratus to me and the rest of the world, Loo" she rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Whatever. The point is you can have ANY MAN YOU WANT"

"No I can't" she shook her head with a shrug, "You know I am crazy"

"You're mentally ill" she corrected and kissed Mindy's forehead, "but you're okay now"

"We can't go away from each other" Mindy showed Tiffany her left wrist where 'James' was tattooed on the underside, "See?"

"I still don't think you're approaching ANYTHING with him the right way"

"And if he hates me LET HIM HATE ME" she rolled her eyes, "But he is my Jamie and he will always be my darling perfect Jamie and I have to protect him"

"Even when he stabs your stepson?"

"Everyone does a nice enough job reminding me he's not mine" she nodded with big eyes, "So technically what he does to Connor its more me protecting HIS son"

"And I know you love Connor just like I do" she shrugged and rubbed Mindy's shoulders, "Why can't you stand up for him with this?"

"I have done it before" she pointed out immediately, "The fact that he does not love me isn't my fault. I am not his mommy and he makes a good point to let me know it. What would you have me do?"

"You're only five years older than him, Loo-loo…" she giggled when Mindy shrugged indifferently.

"Bub is my age but he calls me Mommy"

"Don't even get me started on him" she pointed out in disgust, "Seriously Loo, STOP getting caught up in James because he's really unhealthy for you. You're literally ATTACHED to his side and it's really weird and sad and pathetic. It's obsessive"

"I don't care" she snipped, "Jamie-"

"Wouldn't even BE with you if you hadn't chased him down and made him leave someone he clearly was more than ready to spend the rest of his life with."

"I know…" her eyes dropped and she hugged Tryg close, "I just…"

"You dug yourself in with him and I'm more than willing to help pull you out" Tiffany nodded while giving Mindy's cheek a kiss, "You just have to be willing to help yourself and accept reality as it is, because there's a lot to that man which you refuse to see but I do. And I think this is only the beginning of the long string of James fuckups before either you or one of your children is severely injured or dead"

"Not my Jamie"

"Say what you want" she shrugged, "If you weren't fucking him it'd be amazing how fast you'd turn him in for stabbing Connor."

"But Taryn-"

"No Loo, I'M not the one who needs the reality check…" she shook her head and watched Mindy's back press to the wall, "it's YOU. And I love you, don't get me wrong, I'm just standing up for you and your family before something truly horrible happens…history has a way of repeating itself."

With that she left the bathroom and Mindy shook violently for a moment, scaring the hell out of Tryg and making him cry while hugging her neck.

"NO Mommy, no! No Mommy, please Mommy don't cry, Mommy PLEASE no! No no no no!" his face was in her neck the moment she sank to the floor and stared at the tiles, running her fingers through Tryg's pin-straight blonde Mohawk and kissing the top of his head.

"I love you, Tryggy…" she nodded while kissing the back of his head, "You don't hate Daddy too, do you?"

"Did he really kill Connor?" his ice-blue eyes widened immensely and Mindy shook her head while kissing his nose.

"No, baby…Daddy made a mistake by accident and-"

"He don't hurt you, does he Mommy?" he frowned and traced his finger along Mindy's collarbone, "Because I won't let no one hurt you…when I'm big, Mommy" he nodded and petted her face with pure adulation, "You wait 'til I'm big and I'll get the bad people for you."

"No, baby, it's okay…"

"I'll get them with a light saber" he nodded and snuggled her close, "Or a ray gun…or-"

"I have no doubt that you will" she grinned and they kissed, "But you don't understand why nobody can be mean to Daddy"

"Daddy was mean to Connor" Tryg frowned and rubbed noses with Mindy; "He didn't hurt you, Mommy, did he? He didn't rape you like Coopy?"

"No, darling" she shook her head and kissed his forehead, "But please, please, don't be mean to Daddy…" she begged and her eyes were so red she looked drunk, "Don't be mean ho him, I love Daddy so much he's my best friend please please please be nice to Daddy he's so sad…"

"I will, Mommy" he nodded and even though he didn't agree with what Daddy did, whatever Mommy says goes. "I love you…!" suddenly he started wailing and clung to Mindy like a spider, nestling more and more into her neck and noticing the long line of hickeys going straight up, him thinking they were actually bites and bruises James put on her and crying even louder.

"Tryggy!" she gasped and shook her head, touching his face and frowning, "What's WRONG, baby? What happened?"

He screamed and didn't answer; he just let himself by the baby by allowing his entire face turn red from tears and his hands to dig into both Mindy's skin and clothes.

"I love you, Mommy, I love you!" his words were almost unintelligible they were so loud and rushed, "You're…" he sniffled and gagged from tears.

"Tryggy!" her hands rubbed his back but he didn't care.

"The best Mommy ever don't be sad, Mommy please don't be sad! I love you I LOVE you I do!"

"I love you too, honey, stop crying…" she pulled back so she could pet his face and shook her head, "I love you Tryggy baby, what's the matter?"

His eyes didn't move from the hickeys on her neck and once he caught a glimpse of her low-cut dress and saw the exact same markings on her chest and thighs he was officially scared out of his mind. Daddy was hurting Mommy and she was lying about it to protect him.

"How about we find Daddy?" she suggested eagerly while pushing to her feet and sniffling, "I miss Daddy, I miss Daddy so much I want Daddy to come right now"

…

The very way Mindy was following James around despite his uncharacteristic coldness and hanging on him constantly for stupid petty reasons was making Tryg more and more wary of his father. He didn't know why, but he felt he remembered seeing Mommy that way before.


	31. Chapter 31

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: I agree, the family does need to get back to the way they were. Unfortunately, with the way things are going, the road to there just keeps getting longer and longer and more difficult to get to. And boo viruses suck : ( **firewing pegasus: **No, they can very rarely catch any breaks it seems…Vermi and I don't specialize in breaks. We hit them where it hurts and then we keep swinging.

…

Pain medication was a wonderful thing. Connor had woken up in a hospital bed and normally he hated hospitals because he remembered being in one watching Annabelle die (James and Cooper didn't think he remembered all of it but he did. He remembered every single little detail of that day), but today he just felt numb. Wonderfully, wonderfully numb. He was so numb that he almost completely forgot about what had happened to him. Unfortunately though, it all came rushing back soon enough. James had stabbed him. His own daddy had stabbed him because he thought he was killing Cooper. Through the numbness he became furious and he didn't give a shit if James got him by mistake. He had been trying to kill Cooper on purpose and that was just as bad, if not worse than actually stabbing him on accident.

"Hey there," the doctor said, checking over Connor and making him want to bite him because he was so annoying. "You gave everyone quite a scare, you know that?"

Connor just glared at him, not getting why he was talking like that. What did James and Mindy say what happened? He had absolutely no idea. He had passed out in the car so he didn't even remember getting to the hospital. Knowing them though, they probably said he did it to himself or something like that. They would have never admitted to James doing it. There was absolutely no way that would happen in a million years. In fact, Connor was quite certain that Mindy had made up a million excuses as to what happened. She always did that and James was probably hiding behind them, like usual. It was frustrating but Connor was done giving a shit. He really was. He knew that James and Mindy loved each other more than anyone else so why the fuck did anyone need to bother? He would just rather take Tiffany and Tryg and his pets and go live with Cooper. That sounded much more ideal to him at the moment.

"I'll go bring your family in," the doctor said, finishing up with the whole checkup thing he was doing. "They've been really worried-"

"No," Connor groaned, shaking his head tiredly.

The doctor frowned. "No? What do you mean no?"

"Tiffany…Tryg…" it was hard for him to talk because it was hard for him to think of the words that he needed to say "Snoopy…Spike…wanna see them."

"You wanna see them first?" the doctor said, misunderstanding the fact that they were the only ones he wanted to see at all.

He just nodded, too drugged up to really care enough to argue.

"Okay," the doctor said, nodding his head and taking his clipboard as he headed for the door. "I'll be right back then with them, okay?"

"Mmmhmmm." Connor rested his head back against his pillow and stared at the morphine drip that was in his arm. "Okies." He giggled and started picking on his bandages as he continued to watch the drip. "Drip drip drip drip drippety drip drip drip…"

…

James sighed as he reluctantly sat down again and pulled Mindy into his lap so he could hug her as they all continued to wait. Something had gone wrong. It had to have. That was the only reason he could think as to why this was taking so long. He didn't want to think like that because it was driving him absolutely insane but he couldn't help it. What else what he was supposed to think? He had stabbed his own fucking son trying to kill the son he had disowned and everyone but Mindy, Chelsea and Elizabeth was looking to burn him a the stake for that mistake. Tiffany was openly glaring at him, Amber and the twins weren't really talking to him and Tryg was…well he wanted to say Tryg was giving him the evil eye but that almost seemed mild compared to the look he was receiving from his youngest son. He figured though that it was just because he was mad at Connor so the fact that look got even worse when he pulled Mindy into his lap just went over his head.

"Jamie he'll be okay," Mindy promised, twisting herself around so she could face him better. "He'll be fine you gotta stop worrying."

"I can't though," he said with a shake of his head. "I just can't." He couldn't get a hold of himself. As soon as she comforted him the guilt would just regain its strength and cripple him again. It wasn't going to let up no matter how much he wanted it to. It was going to make him suffer and it was going to enjoy it.

"You can," Mindy insisted, kissing him and making Tiffany roll her eyes and Tryg frown. "You're just not trying hard enough."

"I don't know how much harder I can try Baby Doll," James said with a frown. "I really don't." He hugged her even more tightly, knowing she would anchor him as he continued to try to completely wallow in his own guilt and misery.

Mindy opened her mouth to respond but stopped when the doctor came into the room. James practically leapt up to his feet, tightening his grip on Mindy and Elizabeth so they wouldn't fall because of his sudden movement. "How is he?" he asked, not even letting the doctor speak first. "How is he is he okay? Is he alright is he-"

"Jamie," Mindy said gently, kissing him to get him to shush up and let the doctor talk.

"Connor's going to be just fine," the doctor assured them, nodding at the collective sighs of relief that went through the room. "He's awake and talking-"

"I want to see him," James interrupted, not giving a shit if he was being rude. He wouldn't be able to truly rest easy until he saw Connor for himself. "Take me to him, I want to see him."

This was the point that the doctor started to look uneasy. "Um…well he's requested to see uh…Tiffany, Tryg, Spike and Snoopy first."

Snoopy perked right up at that. He got up to his feet and barked at Spike before trotting over to the doctor and whining at him impatiently.

"I think that's our cue then," Tiffany said, getting up and snagging Tryg and nodding to the doctor as Snoopy and Spike got more and more excited. "Take us to him doc."

The doctor nodded and then looked at James and Mindy. "You'll get in and see him soon. I just think we should let him see who he requests to see first and not have everyone bombard him at once."

James didn't give a fuck what the doctor thought. What he gave a fuck about was that Connor obviously didn't want to see him. He wilted back down to his chair, just resting his head against Mindy's shoulder as she tried to soothe and comfort him once more. He didn't buy the whole "first" thing the doctor threw at him. Connor didn't want to see him at all. Why would he want to? Connor probably despised him now. Wait, why was he saying probably? Connor had to hate him. He had to. The thought made James just want to curl up in a ball and stay there but Mindy's hugs and kisses soon somewhat distracted him from that idea.

"We'll see him soon and talk to him," she promised. "Okay Jamie? We'll talk to him and we'll tell him it was an accident and it'll all get better. You'll see."

…

The door opened and Connor turned his attention away from the drip and he smiled at the quartet he wanted to so badly see. "Hi," he said weakly, wanting to be more excited but was just too drugged to be that way. He did manage to get his hand up though and he waved as Snoopy barked and leapt up on to the bed so he could lick his face.

"Oh honey," Tiffany said, placing Tryg on the bed with Connor and then hugging him as tightly as she dared to. "Oh sweetheart…" It absolutely broke her heart to see him like this and she started crying even though she had told herself she was not going to do that. She hadn't wanted to scare him more than he already was. It was too hard for her to stop herself though. He just looked so sad and childlike just laying there and the thought of anyone hurting him (intentionally or not) and someone trying to make excuses for it just infuriated her to no end. "Are you okay? Are you in pain? Oh honey I'm SO sorry, your daddy is an idiot!"

"I know," Connor said with a shrug. He hugged her back, liking very much that her attention was all on him. "He gaves me a big big boo boo and it hurted a lot."

Tiffany shook her head and hugged him even more tightly. Tryg stared at the both of them, his face showing just how much shit had had on his mind. Connor tried not to notice it at first because he was trying to bask in everyone else's attention but then he started to feel bad. Tryg was his friend and his brother. He couldn't just ignore him. "What's the matter Tryggy?"

"Why did Daddy stab you?" Tryg asked, scooting closer to Connor and staring at him with a very serious look on his face. "You didn't hurt Mommy did you?"

Connor shook his head. "Daddy thought I was Cooper. Daddy was trying to kill Cooper again but I didn't let him. I saved him and let him get away and then he stabbed me because he didn't realize I wasn't him." He tilted his head to the side and frowned. "Why would I hurt Mommy Tryggy? Why would you ask that?" He didn't mention that he had almost chosen to toss a chair at her lying face because that just wouldn't set well with Tryg at all. His companion had Glen's mother attachment so that wasn't a road he was ever going to go down with him if he could help it. He wasn't the smartest person in the world but even he wasn't that stupid.

Tryg gave him a very serious look. "I think Daddy's hurting Mommy."

"What?" Tiffany said sharply, turning to face Tryg so fast that she startled both boys. "Why would you say that?"

"Because she has bruises!" Tryg answered, nearly crying he was so distressed about it. "She as them here and here!" He started rubbing his neck and chest to show his point and Connor and Tiffany exchanged looks. "She has lots and lots of them and we have to stop him! We have to stop him before he stabs her too!"

Connor snorted and shook his head. "He's not going to stab her. Those aren't even bad bruises Tryggy."

Tryg looked absolutely appalled while Tiffany frowned. "Connor-"

"Did they look like this Tryggy?" Connor pulled down his hospital gown just enough to reveal the hickey just below his collarbone.

"Yes!" Tryg shouted, leaping up to his feet and bouncing up and down. "That was it Connor! That was it! Daddy did it to you too didn't he? He did he did he did!"

Tiffany put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. "Connor! Where did you get that?"

Connor shook his head, not wanting to talk about it. Cooper had accidentally given it to him without realizing it but he had been keeping it a secret like a good boy. "Daddy didn't give it to me Tryggy. See, this is called a hickey. It's what grown ups give each other when they have sex."

Tryg frowned and shook his head. "What?"

Connor sighed impatiently. "You know how Mommy and Daddy are always kissing each other on the lips?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Well when you kiss people like that on other places, it can bruise because skin is sensitive. And since Daddy is all up in Mommy's business all the time, he kisses her lots and lots of places and that's how hickeys are formed. I bet you a million dollars Daddy has them too. Grown ups give each other hickeys all the time. Its their way."

Tiffany just stared at him, too shocked by that explanation to say anything. Tryg didn't look entirely convinced though. "There were lots of those bruises though," he said. "And bruises hurt."

"Not those bruises. Believe me, I know. They kind of tickle actually."

"Well who gave you them?"

"That's not important. What's important is that Daddy is an infidel but he's not a Mommy hurting infidel. All he fucking loves is her. He don't give a damn about anyone else and she don't care about anyone except for him."

"That's not true," Tiffany said gently, smoothing his hair down with his fingers. "I know they're all obsessive with each other but-"

"No!" Connor insisted stubbornly. "It is true. It is I know it is!"

"Mommy loves me!" Tryg said, hugging himself and looking at Connor unhappily. "She loves me she told me so!"

"Yeah well what does that even matter? We all know when Daddy gets old and dies Mommy's just gonna shoot herself anyway just so she can be dead with him."

"Connor!" Tiffany scolded, looking fearfully at Tryg who promptly burst into tears and started screaming his head off at the very thought of his beloved mother offing herself for any reason.

"Well its true," Connor said sullenly, shaking his head as Tiffany hugged Tryg and tried in vain to calm him back down. "Its true we all know its true and-" He stopped in mid-sentence when he heard the door opened and his eyes narrowed as James and Mindy stuck their heads in.

"Connor?" Mindy said, leading James in by the hand as Elizabeth stared at them all indifferently. "Can Daddy and I-Tryggy why are you crying?" She immediately went to her youngest son's side and tried to help calm him down. "What's the matter baby? What's wrong?"

Tryg just continued to wail and Connor ignored all that in favor of glaring at James. "Get out," he ordered.

James paled and took a hesitant step forward. "Connor please-"

"Get out," Connor repeated. He didn't want to talk to him at all. He was furious and he just wanted him to go away.

"I'm sorry-"

"No you're not! You're just sorry it wasn't Coopy!"

James shook his head and tried to come even closer. "Connor please-"

"Listen to him Connor," Mindy said as she kept trying to calm down Tryg. "He's sorry. It was an accident just forgive him-"

"NO!" Connor screamed, not giving a shit about how anyone felt for himself. He was hurt and pissed and he didn't care anymore. He really didn't. "Leave me alone leave me alone LEAVE ME ALONE!" He threw back his head and screamed as loud as he could, making everyone around him except Tiffany recoil a bit. Tiffany, much to her credit, withstood his ear piercing shriek and hugged him as he dissolved into a frustrated crying mess in her arms.


	32. Chapter 32

**firewing pegasus: **One can help but we make no guarantees *cue evil laughter* **Esha Napoleon **and **NeroAnne**: Thank you!

…

"So wait…" sticking a cigarette between her teeth Taylor bopped her fists excitedly on Cooper's calves, "you're telling me you fucked your mom?"

Cooper nodded mutely and her blue eyes surrounded by black eye makeup almost popped out of her head and she released a throaty chuckle.

"Oh WOW! And no WONDER Daddy decided to give you the boot" she sighed and ran her fingers through her platinum blonde hair, though he shook his head.

"That was the first time…."

"FIRST?" a thin hand went over her mouth and she laughed again with a dropped jaw, "You mean did rub salt in it?"

He nodded yet again.

"OH god!" she almost flipped backwards off the cot she was laughing so hard, "Why the hell would you ever do that?"

"What choice did I have?"

"So you fucked Mommy again?"

"Worse" he held up a finger when she gave him a disbelieving look.

"I highly doubt you could do worse than rape poor Mommy again. Hell, I'm just a fan and I want to kick your ass"

"Thanks" he rolled his eyes and nodded sarcastically, "I'm really feeling the love right now"

"You're not supposed to" she said a bit quietly, which blanketed them with an awkward silence for a moment before she dropped her eyes and took a breath before continuing conversation. "Who did you fuck besides Mommy?"

"M…" his voice dipped for a moment before deciding to just shrug and give it a whirl, "my half-brother"

"OH! Is that the one that thinks he's a baby?"

He nodded with a raised eyebrow, "You know an awful lot about my family, Miss."

"What part of 'your mommy rocks my life' do you not understand?" she exhaled calmly and bopped his calves more, "I know WAY more shit than I should"

"Which makes you a CREEP" he nodded with wide eyes when she shrugged and waved him off.

"It makes me a FAN, sweetie" she corrected with a poke to his leg, "Fans and creeps aren't together"

"Not to my mom"

"Well she's schizo, of course people like me make her banana sandwich"

"She's paranoid" he nodded a bit, trailing his eyes to the poster again and getting nostalgic before dropping them, and it wasn't lost on her.

"You miss her, don't you?"

The look he gave her answered that question.

"Should I play My Immortal on a loop?" she teased, though he obviously didn't appreciate it one bit. "Okay, okay" she held up her hands and cringed, "Bad joke, chillax…! Who's she write that for anyway?"

"I don't know" he lied, "You're the uber-fan remember?" He took a moment to look at her before finally breaking silence, "She didn't write it, that psycho who beat her did. Who he wrote it for I don't care but it's impersonal for her and she despises it."

"How does Daddy handle that?" she pouted her lips and Cooper shrugged indifferently.

"I can't exactly say he's a fan of hers so it probably doesn't matter."

"Boo" she snorted and shook her head, "what a whore"

Again, the look Cooper gave her for that comment covered everything he could have said.

"So what's your day job again?" he was hoping for her to leave so he'd get the apartment to himself, and she wrinkled her nose before checking the little pink clock hanging on the wall and she stuck her tongue out.

"Now…" she frowned, "boo…" she sighed and flopped off the bed before beginning to pace around the tiny apartment.

"When are you coming back?" he frowned when a remote was placed in his hands and she moved her finger along the buttons.

"Power, volume, channels…" she shrugged, "that's all you need."

"Do you have any movies?"

"On VCR?" she shrugged, "Cabaret, Revolutionary Road-"

"My mom loves that movie"

"I know" she nodded, "and How the Grinch Stole Christmas" she caught the eyes he gave her and they smiled a bit at the other, her icy skin turning eight shades of pink as her eyes dropped, "Don't judge me."

"Dork" he teased when she shot him the finger and ruffled his hair while walking past, her heavy boots clunking as she went.

"Okay…" she opened the old wooden door and it made a big old creeeeeak, "Bathroom."

"Bathroom" he repeated with a nod as she smiled a bit and headed towards a dresser.

"Books and shit"

"Books and shit" he repeated again, Taylor nodding and continuing in another direction.

"Kitchen" she held out her long arms and he repeated.

"Kitchen"

"Fridge" she pulled the white door open and motioned inside, "Stocked with Snack Packs, peanut butter, and string cheese!"

"Now if that isn't the most disgusting combination I've ever heard-"

"In HERE" she motioned to the cabinets and pulled them open, "We have Easy Mac, Easy Mac, Easy Mac Alfredo, and-"

"Ooo! Oo! I got it!" he raised a hand and called out.

"Shrimp Cup of Noodles" she nodded and he wanted to gag.

"Are you fucking-"

"Nah" she snickered and waved him off, "I'm just fuckin' with ya. It's beef"

"I thought for a fleeting moment I was going to have to kill you"

She froze at that, painfully reminding him that this wasn't the crazy Lawson household and most people didn't find jokes like that to be so cute.

"I didn't mean that, you know…"

"Whatever…" she took a moment to smirk and roll her eyes, "weirdo rich boy."

"I have a name, you know" he nodded when she stuck her tongue out and waved him off.

"My neighbors had a Golden Retriever named Cooper" she shook her head and wrinkled her nose, "I prefer weirdo rich boy."

"Whatever" he rolled his eyes and she giggled, hugging herself a moment before trying to figure out if there was anything else to show him.

"Well, you're IN the bed…" she pouted her lips and sighed, "The only thing I ask is if you don't use the phone" she pointed across to a small table by the door where a little phone sat, "If the wrong person knows I'm keeping YOU in my house, Christ" she slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned, "No thank you. No cult following of yours is going to take my ass out"

"Cult following?" he furrowed his brow when she waved it off and grabbed the apartment keys.

"Wash your hands before you eat, rich boy" she pointed at him a bit maternally from the door, "flush the toilet, don't leave the seat up, and PLEASE…" her eyes got really big, "if you feel so inclined to take a dump there's spray for a reason"

"I'll keep that in mind" he nodded sarcastically when she leaned in the doorway and shook her head knowingly.

"Please, rich boy" she pointed at him one more time, "I'll be back when I can, but in the meantime please don't throw yourself out the window. It only opens halfway, you'll get stuck."

"Have 'fun'" he bent his fingers at her and shrugged, "Whatever that may entail."

"Oodles" she rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Ciao, bella."

He took a moment before responding, "Ciao."

…

"Please, Connor…" sitting on the bed with Tryg in her lap, Mindy frowned and tried to touch Connor's hand, "let Daddy talk to you, PLEASE let Daddy talk to you-"

"Why?" he hissed and withdrew his hand immediately from her, making Tryg develop a look which was almost frightening before taking Mindy's hand himself and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Because I asked you to…" she frowned and didn't even want to look at James she was so scared to see his face, "Please, please, please…"

"Why?" he asked her coldly, "So he can STAB me again?"

"Connor!" she shouted when he gave her a look which was equally as cold, "Go away."

"No, dude!" Tryg shouted at him with a shake of his head, "What's wrong with Mommy?"

Connor wisely held his tongue before looking at James.

"You're not sorry!" he shouted at James, "You couldn't even come without that STUPID baby"

"HEY!" Tiffany scolded gently with a shake of the head, "Honey, that's your sister"

"No she's not!" Connor yelled.

"YES" James growled, "She is. And please, Connor-"

"NO!" he screamed at James and looked at both Elizabeth and Mindy, "GET outta here!"

"Connor…" Tiffany placed a hand over Mindy's arm and shook her head with a grimace, "please don't be this way…"

"So you're siding with THEM?" Connor hissed while petting Snoopy, "I thought-"

"Connor I'm on YOUR side, honey"

That made James retreat a step when Mindy shook her head and glared at Connor.

"Baby, Daddy's SORRY it was a MISTAKE! He made a big ol' MISTAKE that's all please don't have him! Daddy didn't mean it he LOVES you, he does!"

"You mean he loves YOU" Connor corrected coldly, "He ONLY loves you!"

"Connor that's not true" she shook her head with wide eyes, "that is not true AT ALL"

"LIAR!" Connor couldn't help it, and the second he yelled that he covered his mouth because Tryg was ready to launch on him.

"MY Mommy's not a LIAR!" he screamed and lunged for Connor when immediately Mindy swept him into a carry and got away from the bed. The toddler stuck his thumb in his mouth and immediately Mindy pulled it out.

"No no, Tryggy your teeth" she barred her teeth for him and shook her head, "That messes your teeth don't do it"

"TEETH is more important than me!" Connor lamented when Mindy pouted her lips and shook her head.

"Do YOU stick your thumb in your mouth like a little baby?"

"Sometimes…"

"Well don't do it" she pointed at him maternally when Tryg hugged her neck and glared at Connor, eyes promising all kinds of death as Mindy carried him out of the room, grabbing James's arm first though and frowning worriedly. "Jamie…" the moment his eyes met hers she started to cry from separation anxiety and she hugged his arm, "Are you okay by yourself in here?"

He gulped and nodded, allowing her to kiss him before she left.

"I love you" she told him on her way out and she clutched Tryg close, leaving James alone with Tiffany and Connor. He almost wished he'd gone out with her because now he was officially alone with them and Elizabeth, who couldn't defend him even if she wanted to.

"So" Tiffany began since she had the liberty of being alone with him, "have anything to say?"

He took a moment, nodded, and tried to open his mouth when immediately Connor shot him down.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

"But honey, he hasn't even talked yet" Tiffany reminded him with wide eyes, "Let him talk first, and then we can throw our stones."

That just made James feel like all sorts of special and he scowled at the thought of that.

"Connor, please…" he frowned and clutched Elizabeth for comfort by stepping closer to the bed.

"Stay RIGHT where you are!" he demanded and James unfortunately had no choice, "Don't come ANY closer!"

"Connor, please…!" he begged haplessly when Connor shook his head with a scowl and folded his arms across his chest.

"He has EVERY RIGHT to keep his distance" Tiffany further antagonized, "You STABBED HIM, James! STABBED! With a knife!" she made the motions, "Stab! Boom! Dead! I don't care WHO you were aiming for you do this bullshit for a fucking living you should know better than to-"

"I'm sorry, I know I know, I'm SORRY please, Connor you know I'd never hurt you! I was so wrapped up I didn't-"

"Of course you didn't…" Connor hissed with a shake of the head.

"YOU had to go on killing without the LIGHTS ON!" Tiffany screamed at him, "REAL intelligent, James! Though…" she shook her head with a sneer, "I don't think that was entirely by accident" James's eyes widened in horror and she didn't care, "I know you wanted Cooper dead and whatever, I do too I can't stand him for what he did to Loo, but seriously? Mistaking CONNOR for Cooper? They're not even the same SIZE, James there's no comparison! You are weaving yourself a VERY VERY tangled web and let me tell you THIS, mister! I already dealt with ONE Kane; I don't need YOUR bullshit as well!"

"Are you kidding?" he shook his head in horror, "I KILLED him"

"And you TRIED to kill Connor!" she shouted at him with a shake of her head, "I honestly don't know what's fucking true about you anymore and what's a lie"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" James frowned when she droned right on without giving him a break.

"It means you are an ASSHOLE and I don't trust you for a FRACTION of a second anymore! You've got my best friend and six little babies involved now as well as Connor! I DON'T want you hurting any of them, James! They don't deserve it, they've all seen enough! And I'm tired of seeing it too! You're un-fucking-believable, James! Honestly, how many people did you think would buy into your little act?"

"Act?" he shook his head fearfully, "What 'act' there's no 'act' what are you even talking about?"

"Look, you can pretend to be as sweet and innocent and hide behind Loo-loo all you want but that's not going to save you from us! We see right through that act, James we're not blind like her! She can't save you from SHIT! You can PRETEND if you want and just use her as a baby blanket to hide your SHITTY life decisions, but I'm telling you right now" she pointed a finger at him, "If I even get a HINT that there's something funny going between you and her I will NOT hesitate to come at you with a shotgun, do you understand me?"

"But there's absolutely nothing, please Connor don't do this" he begged miserably and shook his head, "I love you, Connor, you're my special boy, please"

"LIAR!" Connor screamed and made him shrink into a corner, "If you loved me you'd stop with that BABY all the time and stupid liar MOMMY and be my friend!"

"Is all this over me not letting you fuck Cooper?" he shook his head and scowled, "Because if that's the case, my mind hasn't been changed, boy! You can NOT ask me to forgive that piece of shit EVER"

"And…" Tiffany pouted her lips and pointed to the incredibly cross Connor, "THAT'S not winning you points right now."

…

Tryg rested his head on Mindy's shoulder as Chelsea, Amber, and the twins were all nearby contently all in a circle on the floor with their mother. Chelsea was playing with Mindy's hair and Mindy had no choice but to hold her close while frowning at her only son.

"What's the matter, Tryggy?" she frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "You're all sad and mopey, baby…"

His fingers traced the hickeys all over her and he frowned.

"Connor says they came from Daddy" he said bluntly and she checked where his eyes were before nodding meekly.

"Mhm…"

"Why?" Tryg frowned and decided to ask her for confirmation, "Why are they there?"

She paused for a moment before deciding to take his finger and trace them along the lines in her skin.

"Well" she giggled a bit and tried to smile, "See the teeth marks?"

"He's BITING you?" he gasped when she shook her head with a laugh.

"Noooo" she shook her head and smirked, "they're KISSES, see?"

Tryg frowned still at them and shook his head.

"Do they HURT?"

"Not at ALL, baby!" she smiled warmly, "They come from kissing! Daddy has them too!"

"But you bruised…" he shook his head worriedly, "That's PAIN, Mommy bruises HURT!"

"Not these" she confirmed gently and shook her head, "I kiss Daddy this way all the time"

"But he's BIG, Mommy!" Tryg frowned and shook his head, "Daddy is BIG he can't ever get hurt!"

"Yes he can" she nodded with wide eyes, "Oh yes he can. Daddy's a real boy, you know. He's not Batman, even though I feel like he is"

"He IS" Tryg nodded but then frowned. "He doesn't ever hurt you, does he?"

"No" she shook her head, "never ever."

"You wouldn't tell even if he did" Amber snipped from where she was playing with the pattern on the floor, "Isn't that right, Mommy?"

"Ambie…" Mindy growled, not liking where her daughter was taking this at all.

"it's true" Amber nodded right away, "don't say that it isn't."

"I never did" Mindy shook her head but then frowned, "But you know Daddy would never hurt me, I love Daddy-"

"You got hurt by lots of people you love" Amber pointed out yet again, not letting up on her young mother, "Daddy hurt Connor, just think about what he's gonna do to YOU"

"AMBIE!"

"No" Amber shook her head at Mindy, "Not this time, Mommy."

"Please…" she shook her head and looked around helplessly at her children, "Be nice to Daddy, he loves you babies so much and Connor is giving him a hard time. Please be nice to him"

"Connor says when Daddy dies you're gonna shoot yourself" Tryg whimpered and started to cry, Mindy's eyes widening immensely upon hearing that and Tryg shook his head frantically, "Don't die, Mommy PLEASE Mommy no no no no no no no no-"

"TRYGGY-baby!" she shook her head and cradled him as he cried into her neck, "Please, honey stop it please no no Mommy is not dying"

"You will if DADDY does!" Tryg cried, "He says you don't love nobody but Daddy"

"And that is a LIE" she repeated sternly, "Mommy loves you ALL to pieces"

"I love Mommy" Chelsea nodded while kissing Mindy on the lips.

"I love you more, booboo"

"Where's Daddy?" Chelsea frowned when Mindy blew air past her lips and tried to change Tryg's subject something scary.

"I dunno, babies, why don't we go find him?"

"You ALWAYS want to find Daddy…" Tryg pointed out a bit nastily and Mindy caught it with a look of bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't I?" she frowned, "I love Daddy"

"More than Daddy loves YOU" Tryg sassed which made her eyes widen in horror and they hit the floor, not formally answering that but Tryg knew he got to her, "Don't die when we love you, Mommy! You love Daddy too much stop it before he kills YOU too!"

"He would NEVER" she corrected before cutting herself short. "Stop mindfucking me away from Daddy I do not appreciate it" she looked at her four older children, making the twins gasp at her in unison.

"Hey!" Thorn yelled.

"We didn't DO it this time" Scarlett said while flipping her lengthy blonde hair behind her, "We're INNOCENT this time"

"I know you are" Mindy kissed both of them before looking between Amber and Tryg, "Is there a reason why you both hate Daddy?"

"I love Daddy" Amber shook her head as did Tryg, "We love Daddy. We're scared for you."

Mindy couldn't even acknowledge. She placed Tryg on the floor and lifted Chelsea before heading towards Connor's room where she found James a shaking mess and without a word she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, holding both Chelsea and Elizabeth between them as she devoured his mouth and pet his face as frantically as she could.

"I love you, Jamie" she nodded against his mouth and continued pressing the most passionate kisses she could muster on him and gripping him tightly, "I love you, I love you please stop being sad, Jamie PLEASE James PLEASE!" Her fingers ran through his hair as she began to sob desperately, "Please Jamie don't be sad now, I love you, I do Jamie! More than anybody ever I love you please…!"

She started coughing she was crying so hard when her mouth just fused to his and she couldn't bring herself to let go. Tryg watched from nearby with narrowed eyes and clenched a fist.


	33. Chapter 33

**firewing pegasus:** Yeah, Connor is still way beyond loyal to Cooper and he won't be swayed on the subject. Cooper is "his Coopy" and there's just nothing anyone could ever do to get him to turn against him. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

Cooper sighed as he flipped through the channels on the television, growing to despise basic cable with a violent passion. Not since he had stayed with Sandman over a decade ago had he dealt with this injustice. He was used to the really really good cable with all the fucking channels one could imagine so this just wasn't cutting it for him. "Fuck this shit," he said unhappily. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and contemplated what he should do next. He could settle for a show that totally sucked, he could watch a movie that he really didn't feel like watching or he could sit and wallow in his own misery…at least he was good at that. It was nice to know that when the chips were down and he was in a fucking mess of a situation, he could always fall back to his wallowing. He stayed good at that no matter how much he screwed everything else up in his life.

He glanced over at the poster of Mindy on Taylor's wall, his heart growing heavy as he stared at the image of his stepmother. He needed her now more than ever but he couldn't get to her at all. Not anymore. Now that the cat was out of the bag about him and Connor, James was going to be extra Nazi like when it came to him. He was going to be lucky if he even got a glimpse of Mindy in person, let alone get near her enough to get any kind of comfort from her. No, he was just stuck in an apartment owned by a stripper/prostitute/Mindy impersonator and he had nowhere else to go. What was the point of even returning to his house? If James hadn't already sold it he was going to soon. No, at least here he was under a roof and not out on the street. Out on the street he would have to fend for himself completely and his past track record showed he was absolutely horrible at that.

Feeling way too restless just to sit anymore, he got up to his feet and started pacing around the tiny cramped space that was passing as an apartment. He wanted to call Mindy and beg for her to help him but he knew he couldn't do that. James would just track him down and kill him if he did. He wanted to call Connor and talk to him and make sure he was okay but he couldn't do that either. Connor was probably already in deep enough shit as it was so the last thing he needed to do was get caught calling him and making it worse. It was hard though, being cut off from the two people that really gave a shit about him. Taylor…well okay, maybe she gave a shit about him but then again, maybe she was just being nice to him because of who his stepmother was. If he wasn't connected to the great Mindy Stratus, would she even give a shit? Probably not. Maybe he was judging too harshly but he hardly knew this girl at all. And he wasn't the type to trust anyone beyond a very few select people because people just sucked as a whole. They really really did.

He glanced towards the fridge, his stomach growling despite the way that he was trying to force it not to. It wasn't like there was really that much to eat here so what was the point in doing it? But still, his stomach continued to growl and he quickly turned his back on the fridge and switched off the TV so he could carefully lay back down on the bed. His ribs immediately protested that but that didn't stop him. He just did it a little bit more carefully and got himself as comfortable as he possibly could. His broken ribs wouldn't allow him to get too comfy but he managed the best as he could, wishing he had something for the pain as he did so. _Stop it,_ he scolded himself, closing his eyes and trying to force himself to fall asleep. _Stop fucking wishing for shit. You know that that's the quickest way to not get what you want so just knock it the fuck off. _

…

A very very uncomfortable silence had fallen over the room. Mindy was still kissing and clinging to James like her life depended on it and he was holding her tightly, trying to find comfort in her as Connor glared daggers at the both of them. The display in front of him was really just reinforcing what he had said before. He truly did believe that the two of them loved each other more than anyone else. Elizabeth was obviously the close second but beyond that, anything they said about loving anyone else was just pretending in his eyes. And then to make things even worse, they were always lying about it. He hated that the most. It made him think that they thought he was stupid and that was a feeling he despised with a passion. He wasn't stupid. Maybe he wasn't smart but he certainly wasn't stupid. "Are you two done yet?" he asked, not able to take it anymore. He was not in the mood to see this.

They broke apart and James winced as Mindy shook her head. "Connor please-"

"No!" he said stubbornly. "No no no!"

"Connor listen to me!" she pleaded.

Connor immediately put his hands up to his ears to block her out. He didn't want to listen. He was tired of listening to the excuses. The only thing he wanted to hear…well actually he really didn't want to hear anything anymore. He wanted them both to go away and he wanted them to go away now.

Tiffany knew exactly what he was thinking and she just shook her head at Mindy. "You're not going to get through to him Loo. He don't want to hear you defend him."

Mindy shook her head at her protégé. "Then help me-"

"NO Loo! I'm not defending what James did! I don't care if it was an accident or not! He should have been more careful and he knows it! Connor is your stepson and you should be on his side because he got hurt, not coddling James just because he fucked up!"

James shrank back at her words, not able to defend himself at all. He just felt like more and more of an asshole by the second. It really had been an accident but Connor didn't care. Connor hated him now and he wasn't the type to change his mind easily.

"James is SORRY though!" Mindy wailed, glaring at Tiffany for not seeing things her way. "He's sorry so stop being mean!"

"I don't care," Connor said, drawing his line in the sand even more than he had already did. "Because even if he did hurt me on accident he did it trying to hurt Coopy on purpose. And that's not okay."

"Connor he took advantage of you!" James protested, which made Connor's eyes narrow dangerously. "He fucking manipulated you-"

"No he didn't! I wanted to do it!"

"No-"

"How do you even know?" Connor asked, which made James shut up completely. "You didn't even TALK to ME! You just have been waiting for an excuse to do it ever since Mommy made you promise not to hurt him so you used what happened with me as it! You did it for Mommy not for me!" Connor was nearly in tears because he was so angry. "So unless Coopy gets to come home go away and leave me alone! I don't wanna talk to you no more!" He turned his head and closed his eyes, trying to will James away with his mind.

"Connor please-"

"Stop," Tiffany said, cutting James off at the pass. "Just stop. He's not going to listen to you so don't push him. Just go and I'll stay with him tonight."

"Yeah," Connor agreed, opening his eyes back up so he could glare at James. "Mean Daddies are not welcome here."

James looked so sad and defeated but he wasn't getting any sympathy from the duo that was glaring at him. Clutching Elizabeth tightly he turned around and left the room and Mindy of course ran after him, taking Tryg with her. Tiffany shook her head at that before wrapping her arms around Connor and hugging him tight. "You okay sweetie?"

"No," Connor sniffled. "Mommy and Daddy are mean. I don't like them no more."

"Sweetie they love you but your daddy is just-"

"Stupid?"

Tiffany laughed softly at that. "Yes. He's stupid and wreckless and your mom is-"

"She loves him more than anyone else," Connor interrupted. "I know she does. She likes spending time with him more than us. The only reason she likes Lizzie as much as she does is because she really did make her with him and she doesn't have to pretend like she does with the other babies. And she don't like me because of my real mommy."

"Connor no!" Tiffany scolded gently. "That's not true don't talk like that."

Connor just shrugged and rested his head against Tiffany's chest. He didn't feel like talking about them anymore. It just made him mad and he was sad enough to begin with because Cooper had almost died again and he had a big old nasty boo boo that had hurt really really bad and was going to hurt more later when the morphine wore off. "You'll never hurt me, right Tiffany?" he asked quietly.

"Never," she assured him.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

…

James was completely silent the entire way home. It was too hard for him to take. He knew that Connor had every reason to be mad at him after the way he had fucked up but that didn't mean it didn't really hurt him. And the fact that nobody but Mindy was giving him a chance to try to make things right. He wanted to make it up to Connor but he couldn't because Connor wasn't going to let that happen.

And then there was the shit that Tiffany had said to him. He wanted to think that she didn't mean it. She and Connor were very very tight so he wanted to think that she had only said that stuff to him because she had been upset about what had happened to Connor. He liked Tiffany so he didn't want to think that she really felt that way about him. But it really did get to him. What if he was just as bad as Kane? What if he was this horrible monster that was a disease to his family and he didn't even know it? He tried to convince himself that that wasn't the case but it was hard. He was already completely down on himself to begin with and it wasn't like he didn't have a family history of that shit. His parents had been absolutely horrid and there were other relatives that had been horrible too. That shit was in his blood and you couldn't fight blood. Not completely.

"Go play babies," Mindy said as they entered the house. "I gotta talk to Daddy, okay?"

"Okay Mommy," Thorn and Scarlett said at the same time. They both immediately went upstairs but Amber and Tryg weren't so quick to obey. Amber hesitated for a very very long moment before reluctantly taking Chelsea and going into the living room to do whatever she felt like doing to keep herself occupied for awhile. Tryg however, had no plans of going anywhere.

"Mommy I want you to draw with me," Tryg said, hugging Mindy's leg possessively while glaring at James. James blinked, taken aback by the look he was receiving from his youngest son. It wasn't a normal look at all. It was almost like the look Kane used to give him when he was little, which was way too creepy for words.

"I will sweetheart," she promised him, bending down so she could kiss the top of his head and then gently tried to nudge him on his way. "But first I'm going to have a private talk with Daddy, okay?"

Tryg's face showed that that was not okay at all but that went right over Mindy's head. She just took James by the hand and led him into his office so they could be alone. Elizabeth was still in her mother's arms of course but it wasn't like that was anything new. She out of all the kids was in there the most because neither parent could cut the umbilical cord.

James opened his mouth to try to speak but Mindy quickly kissed him and he melted into her tiny arms. Tiffany's words about him hiding behind Mindy were coming back to him but he did his best to ignore them. Mindy made him feel safe and made him feel better so why should he try to avoid that?

"He didn't mean it Jamie," Mindy said, trying desperately to convince him of that even though they both knew that Connor had meant it. Connor wore his emotions on his sleeve. If he felt something, he showed it and made sure it didn't stay a secret at all. "He didn't. He's just upset and is saying stuff to upset you because he knows it'll hurt you."

James sighed and buried his face in the crook of Mindy's neck. "I deserve it," he said with a sigh. "I do, I fucking deserve it-"

Mindy immediately shook her head. "No no no! Don't say that Jamie. Please don't say that."

"But-" James found himself being cut off with a kiss and he happily accepted it, not wanting to think about the whole situation anymore. He wrapped his arms around Mindy's body and easily held her as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. "I love you," he said, pressing her back up against the wall so it could help hold her and Elizabeth steady while he fumbled with getting his jeans unbuttoned and pushed down somewhat so he could free his cock from its confines. He needed to be with her not because he needed to get off but because he needed to be as close to her as possible. Sex was rarely just ever sex to them. It ran much deeper than that. "I love you so fucking much."

"I love you more," Mindy claimed, frantically kissing him as he shook his head. That could be debated all night long but he wasn't going to go there. No, he was just going to show her how much loved her and try to forget about the horrible mistake he had made at least for a little while so he didn't go and do something even stupider on top of it.


	34. Chapter 34

**firewing pegasus:** James would violently disagree with that…his stance is still good riddance, with a helping of "I wish I had stabbed him instead of Connor" **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

As day began to fade to night Cooper sat on the bed counting the number of cracks in the ceiling when the door burst open and in stumbled Taylor holding two huge boxes of pizza, stunning him.

"I thought you couldn't afford to eat?" he observed her kicking the door closed and heaving the boxes down at her little kitchen table, and she snorted with wide eyes.

"I can't…" she grunted before swiping her hands on her pants and heading towards her cabinets, "but I figured you didn't touch anything I said you could."

She was sharper than he thought.

"But don't you need that cash for other shit?" he frowned when she waved him off and smirked.

"You like pepperoni or plain? I got both, I wasn't sure"

"You really didn't have to…" he frowned while rubbing the back of his neck, clearly lying because he was starving and she knew it.

"Meat or cheese?" she asked once more and shifted her tiny amount of weight while opening the boxes up, rolling her eyes at the lack of answer before putting one slice of each on his plate and handing them to him.

"Th…" he stared at the plate for a moment before she opened a small brown bag and pulled a sixteen ounce bottle of Dr. Pepper out.

"I read that you like this" she handed it to him and again, stunned him.

"Thanks" he gave her a nod and debated just digging in like a pig as she gave herself a slice of each and pulled out a Corona from the fridge.

"Take what you want" she motioned to the boxes eagerly, "Please…I mainly got these for you."

"But I couldn't…" he frowned more when she wrinkled her nose and plopped on the cot by his ankles, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why not?" she shrugged and flipped some of that lengthy blonde hair out of her face, "You're a total sweetheart"

"But you don't even know me"

"Do I have to be your best friend to know you're a sweetheart?" she shrugged and started taking bites out of the piece, "I don't need to know the story of your life to know you're sweet" she shrugged as he began to slowly eat, "you're a good guy who likes to fuck his family members which runs him into a little trouble" she looked up at him, "doesn't make you Satan's spawn."

"Try telling my Dad that" he retorted with wide eyes when her eyes bugged out and she shook her head.

"Dude, I wouldn't walk on the same side of the road as him your dad's the scariest sexpot I've ever seen."

"I agree with you on the first part of that sentence" he raised his eyebrows and continued eating, "the second fragment makes me cringe."

"Well no shit" she shrugged, "he's your dad"

"Not quite" he shook his head while taking a bite of his pizza, making her lips pout and her brow furrow, "technically he's my uncle."

"Oh?" she frowned, "Then who's the real Daddy?"

Cooper twitched for a moment before shaking his head, "He's dead to me."

Taylor nodded wisely, leaving his words at that.

"So your uncle raised you and all that shit?"

He nodded, "That's why I call him Dad"

"But he won't acknowledge you…" she repeated for clarification and he nodded stiffly.

"He tried to KILL me"

"I know, I know…" she nodded curtly, "but did you do anything to try and make it up? Like…?"

"How the hell do you make up for raping your stepmother?"

"You START by getting on your knees and groveling to her"

"And how well do you think Dad would take that?" he spat when she shrugged and dropped her eyes.

"Then I would have dropped down and groveled to Daddy…stayed under the radar for as long as I could, have shown responsibility by getting a job and staying off Mommy's paycheck, still try to be an active part of the kids' lives…" she shrugged, "you know…basic stuff."

"You call THAT 'basic'?"

"Actually" she held up an index finger to him, "It's called common sense."

"Then how come I-"

"YOU, my dear…" she leaned over and crawled further up the bed, kicking her boots off and rubbing his back lightly, "Don't exactly run on common sense and I can tell you that just by listening to your life stories."

"And how do you do that?" he asked a bit wryly when she pointed to the TV and shrugged.

"I watch Dr. Phil"

"Seriously?" he snickered and shook his head, "You get weirder every time I-"

"I'm a GIRL" she repeated while ruffling his hair, "You're gay, you're supposed to get me."

"For the record" he craned his neck to face her and said calmly, "Not all gay men act like they belong on Queer Eye"

"I hang with drag queens" she shrugged, "They sure do"

"I don't do drag" he shook his head at her with a slight smile, getting a flash of Joie in his head before waving it off, "I can be attracted to men and still act like a man with any dignity"

"You're not totally gay though" she shook her head confusedly; "You love Mommy."

"Mom is…" his eyes lifted to the poster drearily and he frowned; his quivering lips extremely visible, "I love her."

"So you DO like girls"

"No" he dismissed immediately, "Absolutely not. I fucking hate girls"

"Then explain Mommadukes over there" she pointed to the poster and frowned, "You fucked her, everyone knows it."

"I know…" he nodded gravely and tried not to even think about crying in front of her, "you don't understand"

"You're in love, of course I understand" she nodded while rubbing his back more, "It just makes me sad that she doesn't-"

"Yes she DOES, alright?" he snapped by accident, "We slept together; I don't just DO that, okay? Let me reiterate that I hate girls and have zero attraction to any of you"

"What's so bad about sex with girls?" she pressed further, "Being you sure seem to know so much about it to hate it."

"Well…" he shrugged uncomfortably, "it's all wet and sticky and…" he cringed, "its just too messy."

"And guys aren't messy at all?" she raised her eyebrows dubiously when he shrugged.

"We don't turn into a lake down there" he cringed, "I got fucking saturated."

"So?" she wrinkled her nose, "When you fuck another guy he goes everywhere too; there's nothing to cap his dick"

"Yeah, but you guys have tits and it's just weird, I don't know" he shrugged, "I only liked it with Mom because I love her."

"So you'll be jacking off to my poster over there?" she giggled when he didn't answer, "Fabulous. I'll keep a tissue box nearby"

"Look, you don't know anything about it, alright?" he rolled his eyes, "If she wasn't who she was I'd hate it with her too. I don't like girls. Period."

"You don't know that…"

"Oh yes I do" he nodded firmly, "I fucking know what I want I'm almost thirty."

"Oh really?" her eyebrows rose, "And what makes you so sure? If you fell for one girl-"

"First of all she's not a 'girl'" he bent his fingers accordingly and shook his head, "She's my mom, she's my age, she knows me better than anyone, and…" he shrugged, "it's not like I met her and felt that way. There was a significant development period I don't want to share, if that's alright with you"

"Yeah" she nodded worriedly with wide eyes, "Sure…anything."

"Can I go to the bathroom?" he asked with a hard swallow and she immediately got off the cot to help him up.

"Of course!" she pointed into the bathroom and nodded, "Right there, it's-"

"Thanks" he nodded off and headed right in, closing the door behind him and slamming his palms to the sides of the sink, trying to clear his mind of all those painful thoughts she made pop into his head and trembling.

His eyes watered, his stomach turned into knots, and he coughed into the sink for a moment even though nothing came out. Panting he ran a hand through his hair and shivered, lifting his eyes to see Mindy's face looking back at him through the reflection of that small mirror.

"Momma…" she was smiling at him, waiting for him, "Momma…" his lips trembled more as tears began to stream down his face, "Momma please…" his hand reached up to touch the mirror when she backed away.

Frantically his eyes widened and he shook his head drearily.

"Momma, no no no!" he yelled after her and cried into the hand he held over his mouth, "Please no! Come back, come back, come back! I need you Momma please"

"I'm sorry" was all she could say before continuing to wave at him, "Come HOME, Bub, I MISS you! Please!"

Tears were rocketing down her face and she was crying now, crying at the top of her lungs and reaching out towards him.

"Bub, come get me! Please come get me I miss you, I'm home! Mommy's always home for you"

A flash of her lying dead in a bloodied bathtub flashed before him and he yelled.

"Please, Bub…" her voice got more and more faraway but he was too worked up to notice, "Come get me, PLEASE come get me, I…" her eyes darted about frantically as he shook his head in fear.

"Come here" he held the mirror and begged, "I'll HELP YOU, Momma, I'll HELP YOU! Come PLEASE!"

"Bub" she tried to speak more when a large hand slammed over her mouth and Cooper came face to face with James, who held one arm around Mindy's waist and the other over her mouth before dragging her into the house and slamming the door shut. Her screams and the flash of the bathtub kept coming up until Cooper screamed and looked away, coming back to face with a blank mirror and his own reflection.

…

Elizabeth lay in her bassinet while Mindy was straddled over James's lap on their bed, her arms locked around his neck and her bare chest flat against his as they slammed into each other. Mindy was too busy kissing him to really cry anything out, though she visibly convulsed once James reached down between their bodies and gently stroked her clit, giving her no choice but to break her hold on his mouth and moan loudly until his mouth made hers focus on him again.

He felt so safe with her right now he couldn't even put it in complete sentences how right he felt. The world had faded away to only the two of them like it always did and they could have remained this way forever. If this were normal sex they'd be begging the other to cum, but they couldn't. This wasn't about the urge or gratification; this was about every major insecurity and flaw he had going away at the courtesy of the person he loved most. He never thought of himself as a 'perfect' person ever, but knowing that he was such in her eyes really did make him feel on top of everyone else.

People were claiming he hid behind her, and maybe sometimes he did. She was so strong and openly defiant towards anyone when it came to him, and he was twice as scary for her. That was his Baby Doll forever and ever and ever. The only support he really wanted was from her anyway; fuck what everyone else outside of their children thought. Her opinion mattered and she already loved him. What else was there to matter?

The goal was so be as close to her as physically possible without actually fusing into her skin, though he wouldn't mind that at all. He'd take that option any day.

The moment she came his hands went to her hips and held them firmly against his so he could empty his own warm seed as deep into her core as he could get it, though she was so small and he was so big he was stunned his cock wasn't poking her organs.

"James…!" she moaned as he took one of her breasts in his mouth and gently sucked on the nipple until she laid him on his sweaty back and sat up straight continuing to ride his cock, "I love you, Jamie…I'm so wet" keeping him hard she leaned down and they kissed, James bucking his hips into her from below when he frowned at how skinny her little body had become.

"Will he hate me forever?" James asked miserably from below while pumping his hips into hers, kissing her until she shook her head and sighed.

"Noooo" she shook her head and they kissed, one of her little fingers trailing down the bridge of his nose, "Stop being all morbid and stuff. Connor will NOT hate you forever; he's just being stubborn right now"

"And its amazing how fast he'd stop unless I brought that rapist home…" he frowned when Mindy shook her head and licked his tongue as it continued gliding around her mouth.

"But darling" she frowned until his pressure increased on her lower body, "Cooper didn't RAPE Connor…Connor WANTED it" she knew his head was about to shake in denial but she kissed him until he began listening to her again, "He's human, baby" she nodded as they continued kissing, "Connor's almost MY age, he needs sex too!"

"Why HIM?" he growled and shook his head while reaching up to start playing with her breasts, "It's his BROTHER"

"Would you rather he jack off?"

"Yes"

"Lies" she shook her head and they kissed, "You let them do it together before"

"Fuck…" he groaned while watching his moistened cock moving in and out of her, "so wet"

"Only for you, Jamie" she poked his nose before shaking her head and tapping his nose, "and stop changin' subject, Jamie-darling, I see right through it"

"But-"

"You let the boys fuck each other before, they telled me" she nodded while petting his face, "I yelled at them both, and Connor wanted Cooper to do it. He wanted Cooper to do him, and of course you know Cooper would"

"Because he's a rapist"

"No" she corrected, "because he's human" she waited a moment because it felt really good the way he was moving inside her, "and you know like I do, when you consistently fuck someone and live with them and whatever, you get crazy for them. I mean" she shrugged, "Imagine if someone told you we could not be together anymore"

"I'd kill them on-site with my knife you gave me and it would never happen"

"Exactly"

"But Baby Doll…" he frowned and ran a hand through her hair, "we're husband and wife…not brothers. It's not right"

"In our family it is" he stopped a moment and didn't comment, "Jamie-darling, if its there, its there. It's like that in any relationship, once you have sex and feelings get knocked around-"

"Connor doesn't know what that kind of love is, Baby Doll" he shook his head at her, "He doesn't think romantically. Dates and marriage and children don't interest him. He's convinced he's a child himself, and he'll never cease acting like one"

"Then you will understand that babies do not always mean what they say" she pointed out wisely and they made out a moment, "and as angry as Connor is, you know he is just a big wind and does not really mean all those horrible things he is saying."

"But Tiffany's just going to keep feeding it, Baby Doll" he frowned and leaned up to rest their foreheads together, "She'll keep telling him he's right and-"

"You maded an accident and people will not forgive you for it right away because everyone sucks" she nodded against his lips, "Everybody is quick to judge for a while, but eventually it will wear off and everyone will love you again"

"But what about the babies?" he frowned and shook his head, "Did you see the way they were…?"

"I did" she nodded mutely while gripping one hand in his hair and the other squeezing his shoulder, "and FUCK you fuck so good…"

"I love you" he whispered into her hair before kissing the side of her face, "everyone else including all our babies want me dead, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"The babies do not hate you" she shot down immediately, "They were a bit freaked, but I talked to them and they all adore you" she nodded and pumped her own hips into him on top, "You know Lizzie Bear's story" both their eyes drifted lovingly towards the bassinet, "Chels don't give a good fuck what you to do anyone" she shrugged and took a moment to happily watch him smile before they kissed, "Tryggy is…" she grimaced, "he's been in a funk, I dunno"

"He shot me the evil eye today" he frowned and shook his head, "I'll be honest with you and say I was quite surprised…"

"I dunno what's wrong with him" she frowned and shook her head, "I'll have t' yell at him or something, he's being so strange and-"

"He's always been super-glued to you" he pointed out before she nodded and they kissed more, "I've had enough Oedipus complexes though, I'm-"

"I do not think that it is that way" she shrugged and leaned down so her breasts brushed against his chest, "I think he may just be scared, you know how he feels about Connor"

"I do…" he nodded along admittedly, "but I also know how he feels about YOU" he ran a hand over her face when she kissed the palm and allowed it to drop between her legs and touch where his cock didn't, "I don't know, I'm sure I'm just overreacting"

"No, no, Jamie" she shook her head and they kissed, "I will talk to him, okay?"

He nodded.

"Anyway…" she continued with a light giggle, "the twins adore you, and Ambieloo loves you too, she's just scared. So stop" she tapped his nose as they kissed, "We ALL adore you, as does Connor he's just upset. He will get better"

"I hope so" he nodded while nuzzling her neck, "You don't think I hide behind you, do you?"

"I would not care if you did" she said sternly and they kissed, "Jamie-darling, my JOB is to protect you…" she giggled as he nipped her fingers, "and make you dinner"

"And fuck me" he groaned when she giggled and slid off him, "Baby Doll?"

She pulled open a drawer and pulled out the strap-on, rubbing it against her wetness before putting the thing on and slamming inside him. He hissed, but let her stroke his cock while reaching around and fingering her.

"Fuck me, Baby Doll" he begged with each of her thrusts, "fucking hell keep fucking me, I need you"

"Show me, Jamie" she panted, loving how hard his cock was in her hand, "Show me you need me"

"I love you" he leaned up and kissed her, panting as they finished the other off and James grabbed Elizabeth out of the bassinet so they could all sleep.

"You can't listen, Jamie…" she reminded him as she lied on his chest with Elizabeth, "they will try and hurt you any way they can, but you cannot listen or you let them win."

"I AM obsessed with you" he nodded firmly at her, rubbing his nose against hers, "completely batshit over the fucking moon beyond anything obsessed with you…" his eyes dropped and he shook his head quickly, "but I don't care. I chose to be this way…" he thought a moment and shrugged, "and I'm not going to ever fucking change. Worms will be eating away at my body and I won't fucking change. I fucking love you"

"I love you more" they kissed and she nuzzled him close, "and I feel that way too…but I don't care. I don't care what anyone thinks, you're my best friend and my husband and my Jamie…" her eyes watered, "and they can't take you away not ever."

"Do you remember when I asked you to marry me?" he touched her face and waited for her to nod, but then frowned, "Do you wish I did it different?"

"I loved how you did it, Jamie…" she ran a hand through his hair and they kissed before she giggled, "Though that day feels so long ago, doesn't it?"

"Pisses me off" he nodded at her before snuggling her neck, "I should have proposed before we had my Pumpkin"

"Its okay…" she frowned and touched his face, "Ambie didn't mind, none of them did. You were ready for it when I was pregnant to Lizzie Bear and boom!" she giggled as he nipped her ear before burying his face into her neck and taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry if you ever thought I use you as a shield or something"

"Jamie…" she touched his face, "what part of 'it's my job' do you not understand? You have a problem, I fix it. I don't care WHAT anyone else thinks of you. You're my darling perfect Jamie and nobody knows you like I do…" she smiled weakly and they kissed, "Now…you promised the babies you would play with them in the pool tomorrow, did you not?"

He nodded against her neck.

"And Thorn wanted ice cream so I said we would take her, and I rented The Human Centipede so we could watch together. Meatball said it was totally disgusting and scary and awesome so after I dinner and the babies go to bed that's what we're doin'."

He gave her a mischievous look before a big wet kiss, "That won't be the only thing we do tomorrow night."


	35. Chapter 35

Finally getting this up! Dumb fanfic absolutely refused to let me put this up until now. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Don't feel too bad, you're not the only one FF has been giving issues *kicks it* I feel bad for the kids too. They have to see their mother in ways most kids don't have to see their parents because of the issues she has. She needs even more taking care of than they do. Connor and his stubborness knows no end…and I've never seen The Human Centipede but it totally sounds like a movie they would get into lol.

…

"What the hell happened in there rich boy?" Taylor asked awhile after he had come out of the bathroom. He hadn't said a word since then, his little hallucination really really fucking with his mind. He had been trying not to think about it but of course he was. His mind just loved to torment him with that kind of shit.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, playing dumb just because he didn't know what else to do.

Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. "You went in my bathroom and started freaking out and shit."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did I heard you!"

"Maybe you heard things."

"I'm hearing a tremendous amount of bullshit from you right now but that don't count."

He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. God this was frustrating. Wasn't it obvious that he didn't want to talk? Even if they barely knew each other she should still be able to pick up on the fact that talking was the last thing he wanted to do. Or did she just not care? That didn't seem like an unlikely possibility at all. "I don't want to talk about it," he said sullenly. "So just drop it, okay?"

She frowned at him and then just rolled her eyes and shook her head again. "Fine. Be that way rich boy."

"Can you stop calling me that? It's not like I'm rich anymore. I guarantee you that Dad has either already completely cut off what Mom gave me or is going to here real soon."

"You'll still always be rich boy to me rich boy."

Cooper snorted and snatched the remote so he could start flipping through the channels again. Absolutely nothing was still on so he decided to just settle on a TMZ, which is a show he usually never watched but at this point he was desperate. Any distraction would be better than no distraction so he would take what he could get at this point.

"You know I used to see you and your mommy on this show all the time," Taylor remarked. "You two always looked like twins. Are you sure you two weren't separated at birth?"

He just shrugged his shoulders and kept his eyes glued on the TV, not really caring about any of it until he saw something that made his heart drop down to his stomach. The TMZ cameras had caught sight of Connor being taken to the hospital by James and Mindy for some unknown reason. At first Cooper could only stare at the screen in disbelief, trying to deny what he was seeing in front of him now. "Oh fuck…"

"Dude, what do you think could have happened to him?" Taylor asked, glancing over at him as his hands began to shake.

He couldn't even begin to answer her. He had a few scenarios in his head as it was but none of them were good. _Connor got hurt trying to protect me. He had to have. Oh fuck, what the fuck was I thinking? How could I fucking leave Connor behind like that?_ Guilt rose right up like a tidal wave and washed over him so fast that he had no chance in stopping it. He should have known that leaving Connor all alone to deal with James was a horrible horrible idea. What the fuck had he been thinking? He should have never allowed Connor to be alone with James. He should have dragged Connor away with him. He was the older brother, he was supposed to protect Connor no matter what. But no, he ran away like a fucking coward and now look what happened. Something bad had happened to Connor.

"Hey, I'm sure he's going to be fine," Taylor said, doing her best to get Cooper's attention. "He's a scrawny fucking thing but he seems like he's tough."

That really did nothing to help Cooper feel better. Connor was tough and stuff but the toughness only went so far. Connor wasn't as physically tough as Cooper and James and he certainly didn't have any kind of mental capability to take getting hurt well. "I gotta go," he said, quickly getting up to his feet and trying to control his knotting stomach in order to just focus on getting to where he needed to go.

Taylor didn't ask where he was going. She wasn't an idiot. It was obvious where he was heading. "What are you going to do if your dad is still there?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'll worry about that when I get there."

…

"Tiffany you have to talk to Connor about forgiving Jamie," Mindy said as she tied a little pink bow in Elizabeth's hair. James was outside playing with the other girls and Tryg was inside for once, trailing Mindy's every step which made her frown a little bit. Usually he never missed an opportunity to play with James so the fact that he was in here with her and ignoring his father was really bothering Mindy.

"Uh…can we remember that I'm on Connor's side here?" Tiffany asked, completely exasperated with Mindy at the moment.

"Jamie's SORRY though," Mindy said defensively. "If Connor would at least hear him out-"

"An apology isn't going to cut it Loo. Not this time and certainly not right now."

"But-"

"Even if he's remorseful, a simple sorry isn't going to cut it anyway. James really fucked up here Mindy. He's got a shit load of groveling to do and he better get started real soon."

"How can he get started if Connor just screams at him to go away every time he sees him?"

Tiffany was quiet for several minutes and Mindy knew she had made a very good point. "Fine, whatever. I'll talk to him. But I make no guarantees Mindyloo. If Connor still don't want to see James then I'm not gonna make him. He-Connor! Don't bite the doctor! I know he's an infidel but-" She sighed loudly and groaned as Mindy heard a cry of pain coming from a man on the other end of the line. "I've got to go Mindyloo. Connor thinks he's a rabid doggy again and is trying to kill his doctor."

Mindy giggled despite herself and shook her head. "Oooh have fun bitch." She hung up the phone and looked at Tryg, who was just staring at her. "Tryggy?"

"Yes Mommy?"

"Come here and talk to me. You and I have to have a little chat."

Tryg immediately climbed on to her lap and hugged her, so focused on her that he didn't notice the odd look Elizabeth gave him for interrupting her mommy time. "I love you Mommy," he said, petting her face with his little hands and staring at her with an adoration that was more than a little unnatural, even for a complete momma's boy.

"I love you too honey," Mindy said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "But you're worrying me a little bit-"

"What? What do you mean Mommy?" Tryg's voice suddenly had an edge to it, as if he was absolutely frightened that he had made Mindy feel bad at all and Mindy had to stop for a second before continuing on.

"You do know there's no reason to think bad things about Daddy, right?" she asked, gently playing with his hair as she nodded encouragingly "What happened with Connor was a big big accident-"

"You still have bruises Mommy."

"Honey we already talked about that, remember? Daddy would NEVER hurt me or you or Connor or your sisters on purpose. Daddy loves us all very much and I don't want him to be sad. He's very sad about the accident and Connor's already making him feel worse about it and that's okay because Connor got hurt but I don't want any of the rest of you doing that to him too, okay? Can you be nice to Daddy and help make him feel better?"

Tryg bit his lower lip and glanced over at Elizabeth, who had a little devilish gleam in her eye. "But Mommy-hey!"

"Lizzie Bear!" Mindy exclaimed, shaking her head at her baby daughter, who had just kicked Tryg for seemingly no reason. "That's not nice darling."

Elizabeth just threw her head back and laughed, seeming absolutely James like in her glee. Mindy shook her head, unable to really stay mad at the little baby at all. "Can you try Tryggy? Please please please?" She waited until he nodded before kissing his cheek happily. "Thank you honey." She moved him off her lap so she could stand up and grab his hand. "Come on. Lets go play outside." She led him out the back door where they found James wrestling with the girls just by the pool.

"Get him!" Thorn ordered, bouncing around and holding an inflatable baseball bat like it was a sword or something. "Get him get him get him! Get the dragon!"

Scarlett and Amber both roared and rushed James at the same time and he allowed himself to be tackled and wrestle around with him. Mindy put her hand over her mouth and giggled while Tryg watched, acting like he was torn between going to join the fray and hanging back around Mindy. Chelsea watched on as well, frowning as Scarlett put James in a headlock. "No!" she shouted, storming right over to her older sister and punching her in the stomach. "No hurt Daddy!"

"OW!" Scarlett shrieked. She let go of James and dramatically doubled over in pain. "Ow ow ow ow! Daddy!"

"Hey hey hey, we don't punch," James said, snagging Chelsea and shaking his head at her. "We were just playing around. She wasn't hurting me at all."

"No hurt Daddy," Chelsea said, hugging his neck and kissing him. "My daddy."

"We don't hurt at all," James said, smoothing down her hair and shaking his head. "Okay? So tell your sister that you're sorry."

Chelsea glanced at Scarlett and pursed her lips, hesitating enough to where James helped by prompting her more. "I…I…"

"Come on, go ahead and say it," he encouraged. "You can do it."

"Sorry!" she finally said. She looked to James for approval and received a kiss on her cheek for her efforts.

"That's a good Princess." He pulled Scarlett over to him and kissed her tummy. "You okay sweetie?"

"No," Scarlett replied. She put her hands on her tummy and pouted her lips. "I think I'm gonna die. My insides are all bruised and they're gonna explode. They really will Daddy."

"No they won't," James said, hugging her tightly and nodding reassuringly. "You wanna know why?" He waited until she nodded before answering. "Because you're a Lawson. Our insides don't explode unless we tell them to explode."

Scarlett giggled, satisfied with that answer. James grinned and then looked over at Mindy, Elizabeth and Tryg. His face faltered just a little bit when he saw Tryg hugging Mindy's leg but he quickly masked it. "Hey Tarzan, you wanna come help me against these girls? They're really kicking my ass here."

Tryg shook his head as his sisters all giggled at James's misfortune. "You're a giant Daddy. You're supposed to squish people."

"I know but it's hard. These little girls are too fast for me. You think you can help me out?"

Tryg snorted. "Help? Get back Daddy. I'll show you how it's done."

Amber smirked and put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah? Is that what you think?"

"Yeah!" Tryg stepped away from Mindy and started beating his fists against his chest and letting out a mighty roar.

Mindy giggled and sat down in the chair that was by the pool. She loved watching James and the babies play. The shit was about to go down and she was not about to miss a single moment of it.

…

Connor sighed as he colored in the coloring book Tiffany had bullied one of the nurses into buying him. "Tiffany?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't think the infidel doctor is going to blow me up now because I bit him, do you?" He was somewhat certain that the doctor was too much of a coward to do any such thing but he just wanted to make sure because people were unpredictable like that, especially when they were infidels.

"He better not even think about it," Tiffany said with an emphatic nod. "Or I'll kick his ass so hard he won't know what hit him."

Connor giggled loudly at that. "Yay!" He set his coloring book aside and gave Tiffany a big hug. "I loves you Tiffany. I loves you lots and lots."

She grinned and hugged him back. "I loves you too Connor."

"Lots and lots?"

"Lots and lots."

He smiled and hugged her tighter. It was nice to know that someone loved him like that. "Can I have ice cream? I'm really really hungry and I want lots and lots of ice cream."

Tiffany giggled and nodded while she poked the tip of Connor's nose with her finger. "Of course. I'll make sure you get all the ice cream you want."

He was very very happy to hear that and he licked the side of her face to show it. "Doggy wants chocolate ice cream! Doggy wants chocolate ice cream!"

"Doggies can't have chocolate-"

"This doggy can!"

"Okay okay. You're a special doggy that can eat all the chocolate it wants. How does that sound?"

It sounded great to Connor. He was about to lick her face again when a nurse poked her head in the room and interrupted him. "Our your parents still here honey?" she asked quietly.

"Nuh uh," he told her. "I made them go home. Why?"

"Hold on." The nurse moved her head back and a few seconds later she opened the door and let Cooper come into the room.

"Coopy!" Connor shouted excitedly, totally ignoring the look on Tiffany's face. "Coopy Coopy Coopy!"

Cooper put his hand over his mouth and shook his head. "Oh God…"

"Coopy! Come see me Coopy!" Connor held his arms out impatiently and Cooper stumbled over there and hugged him as gently as possible. "Are you okay Coopy? You're somewhere safe now right?"

"Wha…Connor are you insane?" Cooper shook his head and buried his face against Connor's shoulder, almost afraid to look at him. "You're here in the hospital and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

"Uh huh," Connor confirmed. "Daddy hurt you too."

"Forget about me," Cooper said impatiently. "What about you? What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," Tiffany said before Connor could say anything. "Your father fucking STABBED him thinking it was YOU! And where were you? Huh? You just ran off leaving your brother to deal with James all by himself-"

"I told him too!" Connor said defensively, hugging Cooper protectively. "I told him to leave or Daddy was gonna kill him!"

Cooper wasn't looking at Tiffany but he could feel her displeasure coming off her in waves. He began to tremble uncontrollably, feeling worse than ever. He had gotten his own brother stabbed. He had fucking run away like a coward instead of just facing off with James and this had happened. "I'm sorry," he croaked out, very carefully tightening his grip on Connor. "I'm sorry I'm sorry…"

"Why are you sorry Coopy?" Connor asked in confusion. "You didn't hurt me."

Cooper tried to respond but he couldn't. He just let out a choked sob and cried as quietly as he could, confusing Connor even more and making Tiffany roll her eyes and go back to coloring so she could be distracted from the scene going on in front of her.


	36. Chapter 36

More fighting with this site... *shakes head* I'm not appreciating all of this. **Esha Napoelon**: Thank you! (and yeah, Vermi and I not loving the site much either these days lol) **susie8807**: Mindy's pretty much forgiven Cooper but it's James that won't budge on the subject, which just makes Connor very very upset. Things would definitely get better on Connor's end if James did forgive Cooper and let him come back home but James is too afraid of Cooper hurting Mindy again to even remotely consider it. **firewing pegasus: **Technically it's just Tiffany giving him the evil eye at the moment but she has no plans to stop. And I'm glad I finally got this up to. The site was really getting on my nerves.

…

"You know what must really suck?" Mindy asked while picking at the brownie sundae she and James were sharing while the rest of the babies sat at the red table with them at the Cold Stone Creamery.

"What?" he asked while snuggling her neck (since naturally she was in his lap) and giving the top of Elizabeth's head a kiss.

"Being lactose intolerant" Mindy nodded with big eyes and James had to nod in agreement, "I could not imagine a world without the joys of ice cream"

"And cheese" Amber pointed out.

"I HATE milk" Scarlett's tongue went out and everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

"Mommy and Daddy only use it when we make pancakes and stuff in the mornings" Mindy grinned while covering James's hands lovingly with one of hers, "Milk sucks by itself but is very good for cooking, my babies"

"But other than that?" James squeezed Mindy's hand in his and shrugged, wrinkling his nose, "If I could tip every fucking cow to suck milk back into the atmosphere and never have to smell or see it again I'd totally do it"

"Or you could just shoot them" Scarlett shrugged, "Why the hell not?"

"Because pushing them is so much more fun" James nodded surely while looking to Tryg, "Isn't that right, Tarzan?"

"If I tortured animals, yes" Tryg nodded with pouted lips, "Mommy, do you like cows?"

"I LOVE cows!" Mindy nodded with a bright smile while wiping Chelsea's face with a napkin, unaware of Lizzie Bear sticking her fingers in her and James's shared sundae to eat it. "If I could hug…every cow…"

"I would have to hose you down before you even thought about entering my room" Amber smirked when Mindy shot her the finger and was cuddled by James.

"She could hug every cow in the world and still smell like coconut" James nodded firmly while kissing Mindy's neck, "Only my Baby Doll."

"One time…" Amber snickered and reached out to grab Mindy's free hand across the table, "Mommy and I went to Paris for Fashion Week…"

"OH Jesus…" Mindy's hand went over her face she knew what was coming as did the kids from hearing it so many times, because they were already giggling.

"I was little" Amber told James with a nod, "Like, Chelsea little…"

"And…?" he encouraged lightly while giving Amber his most charming grin, "On with it, Pumpkin"

"I got hungry" Amber snickered a bit louder, "And I only wanted ice cream, but in Paris they're all too skinny to eat ice cream, but Mommy didn't care. She went out, got it for me, and we wee backstage like" she snickered, "In a corner trying to eat it when the show started so out we went…" she dropped her eyes and nodded with a grin, "so of course Mommy and I are sitting next to Anna Wintour, who looks at us and like, gave us the dirtiest fucking look I've ever gotten from someone."

"RIGHT in the front row!" Mindy chimed in with a nod and a laugh, "Ambie's face was fucking covered in ice cream and sprinkles and I was trying so hard to get it off her, but Anna just stared at us like we were aliens and-"

"Did she hit you with her handbag?" James sniggered after having already seen and/or met all these people Mindy and Amber just threw around expecting everyone to know names by now. The babies were born and bred into Mindy's fame so for them it was no issue, but James and the boys were quickly adjusting to it the best they could. Connor was hopeless when it came to all that, but Cooper at one point was her party/event companion as was, of course, her man candy James. He'd been offered all sorts of contracts and sponsorships, but he just turned them all down unless it was something Mindy really wanted to do with him like the Lose Control music video or the cameo on Glee because the kids begged him to do it for the Mindy Stratus episode.

He didn't want fame the way most celebrity husbands did. He attended and participated in the things he did for Mindy, and that was it. He had no interest in seeing his name in lights or people tripping over themselves for him. Sure, he loved any good ego stroke but as far as he was concerned, the only ego-stroking he really craved anymore came from Mindy. He just wasn't cut out for her lifestyle, yet adjusted fast because he knew nothing was going to change. Even if she retired from the industry altogether no one would leave her alone, it was a vicious cycle and he was screwed.

"No" Amber shook her head with a furrowed brow, "She actually offered me and Mommy the cover of next month's issue."

"It's on my wall" Mindy nodded with a smile.

In the home gym she never ever used anymore Mindy literally smeared the walls with every single magazine cover she ever made in thousands of gorgeous frames and in order of when she made the cover. The pictures from her at seventeen were light years different from the ones she'd done that very year at twenty-nine.

…

"Daddy!" Thorn excitedly pulled James by the arm out the back door the moment they got home, "Daddy Daddy! Daddy! Come see what Oxa teached Mommy's peacock!"

"Oh Christ…" James already didn't like where it was going, running a hand through his hair as Tryg, Chelsea, and Scarlett trailed behind him and Elizabeth.

Going out into the backyard James was expecting a dead bird lying on the ground with half its head in Oxa's mouth, and he was almost right.

"LOOK, Daddy! Rotunda is DANCING!" Thorn beamed while clapping her hands together excitedly as Oxa crouched low and tried repeatedly to pounce on the peacock, which would open his massive tail all the way and jump around so the Serval couldn't try to eat him.

"Oh CHRIST…!" James tried to grab the Serval with one arm immediately before Mindy had a dead peacock and gave the world hell for it.

…

While James was busy trying to save Rotunda from Oxa, Mindy was inside hard at work at the piano with Amber lingering behind her slowly to try and pick up on whatever it was that her mother was doing down there. She had the same repetitive notes going for a while and finally opened her mouth, which was what Amber was most curious for since this was obviously something very very new that her mother was working on. She'd seen her working on this a few times, but that was about it.

"_No matter how many times that you told me you wanted to leave…No matter how many breaths that you took you still couldn't breathe…" _she continued playing a bit and turned immediately once she noticed Amber was right there, which made her gasp and suddenly stop playing, "Ambie!"

"Mommy?" she giggled a bit before walking over to her mother and sitting right next to her on the bench, "Is that the new album?"

Mindy took a moment before shaking her head, which spiked Amber's interest.

"Then what is it?"

"Ehh…" Mindy shrugged a bit before continuing, "Somethin' I was just workin' on"

"For what?" Amber frowned and rubbed her mother's back, "You've been working on it for a little while now"

"Mhm" Mindy nodded a bit before shaking her head and curling her lips in, "I am having a hard time finding out what to do with it…"

"Did you write it for Daddy?" Amber nagged with a slight giggle, elbowing Mindy until her stomach was pinched and she dropped her head into her mother's lap she was laughing so hard.

"Mommy only writes beautiful things for Daddy because Daddy is very beautiful"

"Everything you write is beautiful" Amber said gently while patting her mother's leg, "Who are you writing this for?"

"My Bub" she said after a moment of hesitation, and Amber actually frowned and hugged Mindy, "I'm writing it for him"

"Because you miss him?"

"FOR him" she nodded stiffly, "I will not sing this"

"Wow" Amber's eyes widened significantly and she nodded, "I didn't know he could sing, Mommy"

"I'll coach him, I do not care I know he has a beautiful voice"

"Do you even know where he is?" she shrugged, "Or are you waiting for him to come home?"

"I did not finish the song I only know four lines so far"

"Well I like it so far" Amber nodded stiffly, "but you didn't answer my question."

"Hm?" Mindy frowned when Amber finally asked.

"You really really miss Cooper, don't you?"

Mindy hesitated, so Amber shook her head and reached up to rub Mindy's back.

"I know how bad it must feel to lose him" her lips pouted and she frowned, "You love him so much"

"Ambie…" she held a hand over her mouth and croaked before shivering violently and hugging her oldest as closely as she could, "I think about him all the time I worry, I do! I love him, Ambie I miss him! I want him to come home I need him to come home he must be so alone and SCARED out there I love him, I do! And he KNOWS I love him and I hate it because I miss him and wanna hug him and play with him and snuggle him and-"

"Make out with him?" Amber asked harshly which made Mindy cringe and shake her head, "Because Cooper wants your piece, I hope you know that"

"No Ambie, he-"

"He's not gonna change, he's never gonna change!" she shouted and shook her head, "Mommy I LOVE you, and I LOVE Daddy and I'm okay with Connor, but Cooper HURT you! He HURT you and I don't miss him! I don't CARE about you and Daddy always banging each other, but Cooper?" she scowled and shook her head, "He doesn't BELONG here! This is OUR family! That is MY Daddy! You are MY Mommy! And he hurt you both! That's enough to make me wanna come after him with a steak knife because I hate him! You HAVE to stop loving him, Mommy!" she stamped a foot and begged, "PLEASE! Cooper's BAD he is and I hate him!"

With that she stormed out of the room when she almost ran into James walking in with Elizabeth and Chelsea in his arms.

"Pumpkin!" he frowned as she walked away without a word and looked up at Mindy, "Baby, what's the matter?"

"She hates Cooper" Mindy shrugged while standing so she could meet him halfway and rub their noses together, "What else is new?"

"I'd like a blowjob, please" before he could finish the sentence Mindy was seated at the piano bench fumbling with his pants until his cock was free, swirling her tongue around the tip and licking the vein underneath for a few moments before completely engulfing him with the walls of her little throat, "Good girl…" he groaned and held her hair while watching, "That's my good girl…I love you."

…

"I can't believe Dad STABBED you…" Cooper frowned while running his fingers through Connor's hair, "Has he completely lost his fucking mind?"

"As far as YOU'RE concerned?" Tiffany replied sharply from her coloring book page of the Powerpuff Girls where she had written 'Barbie' over Bubbles, 'Taryn' over Blossom, and 'Loo' over Buttercup, "You're lucky to even be alive right now I don't understand why you keep coming back when you know no one except Connor wants you here"

"Mom wants me" he replied while Tiffany coldly motioned around her.

"All this, Cooper…" her voice dropped and she shook her head, "all this is because of you."

"Hey!" Connor frowned at Tiffany when the young blonde shook her head firmly.

"Don't you 'hey' me, Mister" she shook her head, "I'm interim Mommy for now, alright? And I say that Cooper is BAD news for you, sugarplum. I don't side with your Daddy at all, but I do agree with him on all of this being a direct result of YOU putting your hands where they don't belong"

"Oh, seriously?" Cooper frowned and shook his head, "Momma's totally over that"

"To appease you" she said stiffly, "She's appeasing you because she's schizophrenic and doesn't understand where to draw a line, so I as her replacement sister am doing that for her. She can't say no to you, Cooper, but I can and I'll do it for Connor too"

"Tiffany STOP it!" Connor shook his head worriedly when Tiffany shot him a glare and shook her head at Cooper.

"You have done nothing to prove you were sorry beyond groveling to the mentally ill one because you know you can take advantage of her. Daddy is never ever going to forgive you, but you could have tried to at least have him TOLERATE you! He could have maybe in time tolerated you because I'll be honest here" she shrugged indifferently, "By doing all the stupid shit you've been doing all you're proving is how right he is about you. He calls you out for raping your mom and what do you do? You go and start screwing your own brother! How sick ARE you? You lost Loo, you lost Jeff, you lost Daddy, you lost me, you lost the babies…" she shook her head and shrugged, "This is all you! We loved you just totally fine until you decided to be a little shit and touch Loo-loo when you KNEW that would be bad! James will NEVER give her up even if she kicked and screamed for a divorce he'd never give her up. Your mom's the exact same way with him. Neither of them are going anywhere anytime in the next ten lives. You CAN NOT break them up, nor will you even come close to because I got news for you. Even if she DID willingly screw you, James wouldn't place ANY blame on her. He's a lunatic for her and you got in the way of that and just look at the monster you've created! He's killing your ex's brother, stabbing Connor…" she slapped her hands to her thighs and shrugged, "what next?"

"Look…" Cooper shook his head and motioned to Connor, "I only came to see my brother, I'm-"

"I want you to leave" she said stiffly, "and I want you to leave now before I call security in here and make you"

"But-"

"Go back to WHEREVER it is you came from and leave us alone"

"Tiffany!" Connor frowned and shook his head, "No no no no"

"Stop it" she shook her head at him and sat on the bed, running her fingers through his hair, "NOW Cooper! Before I call James!"

Cooper's eyes watered as he nodded meekly, waving goodbye as subtly as he could before leaving both Connor and Tiffany all by themselves, Connor obviously less than pleased with Tiffany but she didn't care at the moment.

"I'm sorry Connor" she shook her head at him sternly, "but I can't deal with him and if you love me you'll understand why. He did things to your mommy that I can't ever forgive"

"Same as everybody else" he pouted and rolled his eyes, "You all just want me to be MISERABLE!"

"No I don't" Tiffany shook her head before pulling out her phone and looking at the picture she just colored in and dialing Mindy's number.

"What would you like from my life?" came Mindy's tired voice while Tiffany could clearly hear a movie of some nature playing in the background.

"Loo…" she smiled gently before speaking up, "When Babs comes up I know what we're wearing to Likansuk's costume party."

"Hmm?" obviously Mindy had racked her brain over this as well when Tiffany finally chirped.

"Slutty Powerpuff Girls!"

"Ohhhh YES!" Mindy cheered happily while bouncing on the couch and hugging James even though he was clueless, "That is AMAZING when's Babs coming so we can shop?"

"Tuesday" Tiffany nodded before suddenly cringing, "and you gotta help me find a red wig."

"I need green contacts" Mindy nodded when Tiffany started sniggering.

"I need pink ones."

"Fuckin Barbie has it the best" Mindy rolled her eyes and groaned, "Bitch already has blonde hair and blue eyes what injustice is this?"

"Oh don't worry" Tiffany's eyes widened and she snickered, "she gets to be Will Turner for the after parties"

"I shotty Jack Sparrow, you know nobody can top my Jack Sparrow, and you know I was born to be the drag version of that role."

…

Finding his way back to Taylor's apartment building since that was essentially the only place he had to go left, he opened the door to have her arms wrap around him at the look on his face and she pulled him towards the couch to sit with him.

"Aww boo…" she frowned while rubbing his back, not asking anything personal but just letting him sit on the little pink blowup couch with her while she soothed him, "I'm sorry, how's your brother?"

"Dad kinda stabbed him" he shrugged, "he's as alright as he's going to get"

"I'm sorry…" she frowned and shook her head at how distraught he was, "Is there anything I can do? Or…?"

"It's alright…" he tried to wave her off but she shook her head and hugged him tighter.

"No it's not alright. Dude I told you you fucked up big, but still man, you don't deserve"

"My mom's best friend is a fucking lunatic with her and literally shoved me out of the room"

"That the blonde with the husband?" she waited for Cooper to nod before sighing and running a hand through her hair, "Excellent. And did Mommy or Daddy show up while you were there?"

"Thank Christ no" he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I hope Dad doesn't show up ever again"

"Then how are you ever going to fix things?"

"When he wants me DEAD?" he made eye contact with her for a moment before shrugging as her hold on him tightened tenfold, "I really don't know…"


	37. Chapter 37

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **firewing pegasus: **Cooper and hugs aren't really the best mix. There are maybe a handful of people he'll accept them from but otherwise, it's smarter not to do it. **NeroAnne**: No ice cream really is a horror that should never be experienced *shakes head* I'm against no ice cream. Totally against it. And thank you : )

…

When Connor was set to leave the hospital he was very very sullen, still upset that Tiffany had chased Cooper away and even more upset that he could no longer avoid James and Mindy. Every time they had come to try to talk to him at the hospital he had screamed and cried and kept them at bay for the most part. But at home it was going to be much harder to get away from them. They were going to be on him until he made peace with James and then they could go on with loving each other more than him without any sort of guilt.

"Do you wanna watch a movie when we get home?" Tiffany asked, doing her best to sound as cheerful as possible to help lift his spirit. "We could have a Toy Story marathon again. Or we could watch one of your superhero movies. It's been forever since we've seen Batman-"

"Batman looks like Daddy," Connor said shortly.

"We could watch one of the older Batman movies," Tiffany quickly countered. "They don't look like Daddy do they?"

Connor shrugged apathetically. He really didn't want to be mad at Tiffany so this was killing him but she had made Cooper go away and he hadn't heard from his brother since. He didn't know whether he was okay or not and that really really bothered him. He didn't trust James to leave him alone even if he was gone. Actually, to be honest, Connor didn't trust James at all anymore. He knew that some people would say that was his anger talking and maybe it was but why shouldn't he be angry? He had been stabbed and Cooper was still an outcast and not allowed to come home. Shit, Mindy had forgiven him already for what he did but nobody else was cutting him a break. It angered him that nobody else seemed to give a shit that Cooper was probably in deep shit now. He wasn't good at taking care of himself at all. Cooper had said that himself and things weren't going to be any different now.

Tiffany let out a sigh and started playing with his hair. He hardly noticed though because James and Mindy were coming his way with all the babies and the only one he felt remotely happy to see was Tryg.

"Hey," James said, wincing at the look Connor was giving him. He was holding Chelsea in his arms (Elizabeth was in Mindy's) and he stopped a few feet short of Connor, sensing that he was not welcome to come closer. "How are you feeling?"

Connor shrugged and got up despite the fact that Tiffany was trying to slow him down. The hospital was worried about him pulling his stitches because of the way he normally ran around like a bat out of hell. He wasn't worried about it though. If he pulled the stitches then he pulled them. He didn't want them in him anyway and actually wanted to pull them out himself if he ever got the chance to do so. He doubted he would get to do that because nobody left him alone anymore but if he did get the chance he would take advantage of it.

"You ready to go home?" Mindy asked, trying to get some sort of response out of him.

He shrugged again. What did it even matter? He was going to have to go whether he liked it or not.

James and Mindy both exchanged looks. Connor knew he wasn't making them happy with his responses but he didn't care. Instead he waved at Tryg, who waved back at him. "Tryggy?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to have a meeting…a SECRET meeting." He glared at James, who looked like he was about to say something. "Okay?"

Tryg nodded and came over so he could hug Connor's leg. "Okay."

"You just gotta remember you can't play too rough or anything yet," Tiffany reminded him gently.

"Oh yeah, because I so totally forgot," Connor snapped, surprising everyone with his nasty sarcasm. That wasn't typically his style. "I'm only going to have a gigantic SCAR for ever and EVER to remind me of all this." He made sure to give James a particularly nasty look as he said that.

Mindy shook her head and reached out to try and touch him. "Connor baby please-"

"Connor's not here right now," he informed her just to be difficult.

"If you're not Connor then who is she talking to right now?" James asked, which was the wrong thing to do.

"Nobody who wants to talk to you!"

"Connor!" Mindy said, shaking her head while Tiffany groaned and shook her head. "That is enough! Your daddy is sorry-"

"That's what he says," Connor muttered under his breath. "But he also said he would never ever hurt me and we all know he lied about that."

"He didn't LIE!" Mindy said angrily, bringing the claws out because she was defending James's honor. "It was an ACCIDENT baby! We've told you a hundred times-"

James pulled her back and motioned for her to be silent so he could address Connor himself. "What do you want me to do Connor?" he asked, his voice so vulnerable and miserable that even Tiffany kind of softened-but not Connor. Connor saw it as an act and didn't believe any sincerity in it whatsoever. "Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg for your forgiveness? Because I will. You just watch me I'll do it. Connor I fucking feel like SHIT for what I did, okay? And I know you're angry and you have a right to be but can you at least let me try to make it better? Please please please let me make it better."

Connor stared at him, unable to say what he really wanted to say because Mindy would probably just rip his head off anyway. "I have to take Snoopy out to potty," he announced, just avoiding the whole thing all together to make it easier on him. "Come on Snoopy."

Snoopy barked and followed him out of the room. Spike was close behind and all three of them ignored the looks they got as they left. Spike was too stupid to really notice it at all, Snoopy was blissfully in his own world controlled by Connor and Connor just didn't give a shit. He really didn't.

…

"I just don't know what to do Baby Doll," James lamented after they got home. Connor was up in his room with Tryg and he was being cold to everyone, even Tiffany. That was surprising to James because Connor was never that way to her. He was like a giant puppy dog with her but not now. Something must have happened between them and while he did want to know what it was, right now, fixing things between himself and Connor was much more important to him. "He won't listen to me. Every time I try to talk to him he just shuts me out."

"I think you might have to make him listen," Mindy said as she fed Elizabeth. "You can't let him shut you out Jamie. You'll never get anywhere that way."

"I know but I don't know how to make him listen," he said with a shake of his head. "Connor only hears what he wants to hear. He's like how I used to be, only a thousand times worse because he has no reasoning skills."

"I know but you're his daddy Jamie," she reminded him. "And he does still love you, even if he's saying mean things and not acting like it."

"I guess…" James ran his hand through his hair and tried to brood but she wouldn't let him. She loved him too much to allow him to drive himself crazy and make himself sad.

"I know I'm right," she said bluntly, allowing Elizabeth to feed herself like she had been trying to do the entire time anyway so she could get up and hug James tightly. "I do Jamie, I know I'm right."

"I know Baby Doll," he said as he returned her hug. "It's just so fucking hard, you know? Connor's impossible to talk to when he's like that."

"Nothing's impossible for you Jamie darling," Mindy said sweetly. "You're just so down on yourself that you're letting him win." She pulled his head down so she could kiss him. "He's very hard to talk to and very angry but you gotta keep trying. Just be the stubborn boy we all know you are and you'll win him back over. You'll see."

"Da da da!" Elizabeth chimed in, banging her fists against her high chair and attracting both of her parents' attention.

"See?" Mindy said brightly. "Lizzie Bear knows it too!"

James grinned and went over to his daughter so he could kiss her forehead. "You believe in me too Lizzie Bear? Huh? You believe in Daddy?"

"Da da da!" Elizabeth tried to wiggle out of her chair and reach for James's knife, which was somewhat sticking out of his pocket. His eyes widened a bit when he realized that. "No no Lizzie," he said gently. "That's sharp. That's too sharp for you."

"DA DA DA!" She grabbed the spoon Mindy had left on her tray and began stabbing her applesauce with it, giving him a rather impatient look as she did so.

"Oh my…" Mindy put her hand over her mouth and giggled. "She's just like you Jamie. You get that look all the time when you need to kill something."

James grinned and lifted Elizabeth out the chair so he could bounce her lightly. "When you get bigger I'll take you hunting Lizzie Bear. I promise."

Elizabeth blew a raspberry in response and then clapped her hands together and squealed as James blew one back at her, both of them missing the tears that welled up in Mindy's eyes as she watched them together.

…

"Okay, so my near death experience has severely impeded our work," Connor said to Tryg, who was sitting near him and listening very attentively like any good partner in crime should. "Bur our quest for world domination will not be denied!"

"It won't?"

"No Tryggy, it won't. And you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I said so, that's why." Connor grabbed his little marker board but then realized he had no markers to it, so he threw it across the room angrily. Spike jumped up and ran into the wall out of fright and Snoopy nearly peed on the bed because he was so startled.

Tryg winced and shook his head. "You know, after we take over the world, we need to make Mommy queen."

Connor resisted the urge to roll his eyes as best as he could. "Why?"

Tryg frowned at that question. "Why wouldn't we? She's Mommy."

Connor decided to not even continue with that portion of the conversation. Personally he was still mad at Mindy because if she had just kept her mouth shut about Cooper, everything would have been just fine. He couldn't ever say that to Tryg though. Tryg was too much of a momma's boy to handle it properly. "We need to take over the world fast though because I gotta neutralize Daddy so I can find Coopy."

Tryg made a face. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Want to do what?"

"Find Cooper. You know what he did-"

"No! Not you too Tryggy! I get that crap from everyone else I don't want it from you too!" Connor pulled Snoopy into his lap and hugged him tightly. "Coopy takes care of me. I need him back."

"Mommy and Daddy take care of you too."

"But they're not Coopy. And-" Connor stopped as there was a knock on his door and James let himself in without any other invitation.

"Hey boys," James said, looking much calmer and more confident than he had back in the hospital.

"Hi Daddy," Tryg said as Connor stayed defiantly silent.

James picked up Tryg and hugged him tightly. "Tarzan do you mind if I talk to Connor alone for awhile?"

"Okay Daddy." Tryg waited until James put him down and then he ran out of the room, probably going to find Mindy while he waited. James shut the door behind them and then sat down on the bed with Connor, who was not pleased because James was not invited to sit there at all.

"Look, we really need to talk," James said firmly.

"I don't wanna," Connor said grouchily.

"I know but we're going to." James grabbed Connor's chin and forced eye contact with him. "I know you're angry-"

"No you don't. You don't know anything!"

"Yes I do. I know you're very very upset with me and I know I deserve it. But as mad as you're going to be I'm not going to stop until I make this better, okay?"

"But you can't," Connor said stubbornly. "Not unless Coopy gets to come home."

"That's not gonna happen Connor," James said, getting kind of angry because they were having this conversation yet again. "You know what he did-"

"Mom don't even care!"

"She's sick, he takes advantage of her because she don't know how to hate him like she should!"

"No he don't!"

"Yes he does!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Connor stop, you don't have any fucking idea what you're talking about, okay? You're being so stupid about this-"

Connor's eyes widened. He hadn't heard the last part of that sentence or what else James said beyond that. He had only heard the "You're stupid" and he promptly burst into tears, which made James realize where he had gone wrong.

"Oh fuck, Connor no, I didn't mean-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Connor shrieked, shoving James away before climbing off the bed and running as fast as he could, springing down the stairs and bolting out the front door before anyone could stop him.


	38. Chapter 38

**firewing pegasus: **In the past twenty three years, Connor has definitely picked up James's stubborn nature, so his opinion on any kind of situation is pretty impossible to change. **Esha Napoleon**: LOL yeah I know. And thank you!

…

Taylor watched as Cooper sulked on her bed, seemingly calmer since she'd pulled him under her twiggy arms and he'd been there for hours. He didn't speak, he didn't touch her; he just sat. The very way his icy gaze was just into the abyss made Taylor pout her lips and frown because she was going to have to leave him again soon. Could she honestly leave to go to work with him that way? Clamping a hand in her hair she sighed and shook her head at Cooper's state, her blue eyes covered in smoldering black drifting to the clock on the wall and she groaned.

"You're quite a pain in the ass, rich boy" she sighed before catching the searing glare he gave her out the corner of his eyes and grinning, "I knew that'd bring you around, high maintenance Harry."

"Of course you did" Cooper growled when she giggled and knocked her forehead against the side of his face.

"Stop" she groaned before shaking her hair out and squeezing his shoulder, "come on."

"Come where?" he watched her back-roll off the couch before heading towards her dressers to grab the discarded leather bomber jacket.

"You think I'm leaving you alone for a second to get stuck trying to throw yourself out that broken window?" she pointed to the one window she had in front of them and shrugged, "You're coming to work with me."

"Excuse me?" he snorted while pointing to himself incredulously as she pulled her boots on, "Did you just say"

"Get your shit together, I'm not leaving you alone in this house to wallow in your shit" she shook her head and sighed, "Come out with me and maybe you'll find…" she shrugged, "something…to do while I-"

"What the hell am I supposed to do while you strip?"

That made her jump up and wrap her legs around his waist before nipping his ear.

"Enjoy the show" she gave him a cheeky wink before stumbling to her feet and pulling him out by the hand, "Come on, dress warm" stopping in the doorway she spun herself back around and noticed he only had a t-shirt on, "Ohhh no no no, sweetness, the desert is COLD at night, do you know nothing?"

"I know I want to catch hypothermia and die" he nodded when she waved him off from her drawer.

"What a jokester" she sighed from the opposite side of the room and tossed him her jacket from halfway across the apartment, "Put that on"

"But it's PINK!" Cooper nearly dropped the hot pink fleecy thing when she rolled her eyes and ripped off her oversized bomber jacket, throwing it at him and snatching the pink jacket and putting it on herself.

"Doesn't match my outfit, but what fucking ever, right?" she took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly, "You are SO lucky, rich boy"

Not only did he let her lead him out behind her, but he returned the grip she had on his hand.

…

"Now keep quiet and if people talk to you, ignore them, alright?" Taylor asked gently while leading him into the club with her, "People will cut your throat for a nickel around here, you HAVE to be careful!"

Cooper nodded while trying not to look at all the bums in the alley whistling at Taylor as she and Cooper walked by, Cooper curiously taking note of a couple of the bums shooting their arms up with syringes but Taylor grabbed his chin and shook her head.

"No no, no speedballing for you, rich boy" as they entered through a side door she shook her head and led him towards the back with her, "Please promise me you'll do me something major during night job numero uno and stay out of trouble"

He nodded with a gulp before finally touching her arm and frowning as she started to go towards the back, "Why are you even doing this?"

"Why not?" she shrugged and hugged him quickly while starting for the stairs, "I care about you."

Those words made him plop in a chair in a corner and hold his head in his hands.

…

"Seriously Connor?" Tiffany folded her arms across her chest as Connor stood dejectedly in the doorway, "Were you SERIOUSLY thinking you were going to get away? You think that by just-"

Connor jutted his lower lip out and sniffled at her, but she wasn't buying it.

"OH no! Don't you take that face with ME, Mr.! I see right through it"

"But…" he sniffled and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, "Daddy said I was STUPID! He called me STUPID, Tiffany, he did! He-"

"He didn't MEAN it, alright? It was just a misunderstanding and"

Connor's eyes widened in horror, "So you ARE defending him?"

"No" she shook her head sternly and folded her arms across her chest, "but I DON'T want you running away anymore, got it?"

"Yes, Tiffany…" he frowned and reached out to hug her when she immediately did so and caught Mindy and James speaking very closely to each other while Mindy put her gigantic white-framed sunglasses on and wore one of James's plain white t-shirts as a dress with gladiator sandals. Every day it was becoming guess which item Mindy stole out of James's closet.

"Good" Tiffany nodded stiffly while petting his face and craning her neck towards the kitchen where James had his face buried in Mindy's neck and Chelsea in his free arm, "LOO! NOW!"

"Bah humbug!" Mindy shouted back while coiling her arms around James as tight as she could get them, kissing his hair and his face to the point that she was re-kissing the same areas, "I love you, my beautiful perfect Jamie, yes I do"

He took a moment to admire her in his shirt before running a hand down over her chest and she kissed Chelsea.

"I love you, honey bunny" she giggled as Chelsea squealed and gave her a big old kiss right back, running her fingers through Mindy's hair before resting her head on James and James was more than highly reluctant to let Mindy leave.

"LOO!" Tiffany shouted again in aggravation before pointing at Connor once more since the couple was kissing now (their goodbyes were an all-day affair), "I want you to promise me you're not going to run away or do anything stupid while Mommy and I costume shop with Aunt Barbie too, okay?"

"Oh…" Connor scoffed the ground and frowned, "okay"

"THANK you, sweetie" she kissed Connor's forehead before actually rolling her eyes as James walked Mindy to the door while holding her hand tightly, "Seriously Loo? You can't walk to the door without him?"

"No" Mindy shook her head as she and James shared a big kiss and Connor wanted to throw up.

"I love you, please be careful" he knew Mindy was driving which was comforting considering the young woman belonged in NASCAR, but still scenarios were flying around in his head about things which could happen and Mindy frowned since she picked it up.

"I will, darling" she nodded and bit the tip of his nose, "I'ma go out and get a lovely costume you can gradually take off me all night"

"You're my hostess you have to look the best" he reminded her when she giggled and ripped his head down so they could kiss more, "So just come like you are now and-"

"Ohhhh JAMIE!" she waved him off before taking the compliment with another giant kiss, which annoyed Tiffany and Connor to no end, "I love you" they kissed again and she held up her phone, "I will call you, darling, and tell you what we should do about dinner"

"I have to wait until dinner?" he frowned when she nodded and reluctantly they kissed more, "Call me every half hour, no"

"Twenty minutes" she nodded in compromise and kissed him harder, "I love you I love you I love you"

"I love you more" he nodded and started out the door with her with Tiffany, shocking the young blonde when Mindy turned and gave Connor's forehead a kiss even if he didn't want her to.

"I love you TOO, Connor!" she giggled and took James's hand tightly in hers, "Jamie make sure you give the babies a nice time"

"I always give them a nice time, Baby Doll" he nodded as she unlocked the car and Tiffany begrudgingly slammed open the door to the passenger seat and got inside, "After all I have to do something productive until you come home"

"Think about the party, Jamie" she nodded with a giggle, "What charity is all the shit going to?"

"Muscular dystrophy?" James shrugged apathetically before leaning and giving her a huge kiss in the driver's seat, "I don't even care, look both ways before you cross the street"

"In a car?"

James had to think that one over before nodding.

"Same rules apply everywhere with you. If you see ANYTHING suspicious you call me, and I'll be there so fucking fast you won't know what"

"I love you" she finally forced herself to start the car and they kissed, "I love you forever and ever and ever and"

"This TRULY is pathetic" Tiffany nodded to her when James and Mindy shot her searing glares before Mindy reluctantly started to back out.

"I don't think so" Mindy sighed and took Tiffany's hand as they broke the speed limit just going down the residential street.

"You know…" Tiffany eyed the way Mindy kept compulsively checking the rearview mirror to see the house disappear in the distance and scowled, "you guys seriously need to lay off"

"Why?" Mindy pulled her eyes from the road and craned her neck to glance at Tiffany, "I am not allowed to love my husband?"

"Loo…" dropping her elbow to the window on the passenger seat side Tiffany growled and shook her head, "just forget it."

"Taryn" Mindy's going deepened as they made their way to the airport where Mindy was picking up Kelly.

All the Lawson's needed was another person living with them, but Kelly Mindy knew would cause no damage of any kind other than her natural cluelessness. She wouldn't try to be catty, she wouldn't go after James, she wouldn't upset Mindy or the babies, she had absolutely zero bias…plus she was in the little trio with Mindy and Tiffany. Difficult touring schedules had made it hard for Kelly to truly see anyone including Tiffany who disappeared off the face of the earth after a drunken fight with Drew which ended in her arrest.

"Honestly…" Mindy frowned and reached over the console to grab Tiffany's hand, which she grasped firmly and looked the raven-haired rockstar in the eye, "I LOVE you, okay?

It's just…" her eyes dropped and she shrugged, "You know how I feel about my Jamie, I cannot-"

"I know" Tiffany nodded without the nastiness, "I know, Loo."

…

The lithe blonde dressed in navy sweatpants and a yellow tank top lugged her bags from the carousel all the way down the terminals to see a little black dot bolting her way and BOOM!

"MIN!"

"BARBIE!" both Mindy's short little legs wrapped around Kelly's waist and the blonde's cheek was kissed into oblivion but she didn't care.

"HEY Babs!" Tiffany's arms went around Kelly and Mindy simultaneously.

"Hello!" Kelly looked to the both of them and laughed, "I missed you too!"

"No fair" Mindy frowned and hugged Kelly and Tiffany tight, "You don't come enough."

"I don't get OFF enough" Kelly corrected with a grit of her teeth, "So what's with this Cooper crap I hear flying around the media?"

"Well…" Tiffany groaned the moment Mindy looked down, "I'll tell you in the car."

…

"So WAIT, seriously…" Kelly shook her head in the mall as she walked alongside Mindy and Tiffany in Victoria's Secret to purchase the white knee socks, "James STABBED Connor thinking he was Cooper?"

"Not on purpose" Mindy immediately shook her head while looking at an entire wall which displayed her own picture in black and white, and immediately Kelly's eyes widened and she elbowed Mindy.

"DAMN Miss Mindy!" Kelly gasped at the picture and looked to Mindy, who was staring at all the fans standing outside the store because the doors were closed off for the rockstar and her friends, "What's the secret, huh?"

"Don't eat anything" Mindy responded uncharacteristically coldly and lifted the knee socks for Tiffany to see, "I like these."

"She's been giving James a heart attack" Tiffany frowned and shook her head, "He's really not loving this"

"And neither am I, Min" Kelly frowned and wrapped an arm about Mindy's shoulders, "You need to eat, babe"

"I can't" Mindy shook her head and hugged Kelly back until Tiffany waved them over excitedly.

"C'mere, bitches!" Tiffany spun around and giggled, leading the other girls to a wall where extremely lacy sets of bras and thongs were in the blue, pink, and green variety.

"Oooo!" Mindy nodded and high-fived Tiffany, "Nice!"

"What's James's favorite color?" Kelly giggled while looking to another wall when Mindy replied.

"Black or red" Mindy shrugged, "Either. My hair is black so he gets enough of a fix of that."

"I'm sure" Tiffany rolled her eyes and Kelly caught it, not looking to happy at Tiffany's sour expression.

"What's the matter?" Kelly frowned and shook her head, "I love James"

"What significance does" Tiffany scowled, "'James stabbed Connor' have to you?"

"I…" Kelly shrugged and took Mindy's hand nervously, "he's always been nice to me"

"That is because my Jamie IS nice" Mindy corrected Tiffany while squeezing Kelly's hand.

"Except when anyone other than you is involved" Tiffany pointed out yet again when Kelly sensed a fight.

"Look, I don't know him" Kelly frowned, "I don't know enough to judge him and I don't want to get involved, alright? As far as I'm concerned he's the keeper of the Min and he's doing a damn good job at it"

"And wait until you live with him" Tiffany pointed out with wide eyes which of course set off Mindy.

"He will be very nice to you because he is my perfect little angel and I love him forever and ever and-"

"Ooo!" Kelly frowned and glanced about, "Where's the Lizziekins? I miss her I haven't seen her since she was a little baby"

"Lizzie Bear is at home with my Jamie" Mindy nodded with a bright smile, "She is so very beautiful and looks so much like him"

"I thought she looked like you?" Kelly frowned when Mindy shook her head with wide eyes.

"She has the Aryan curse, but not my face" she was so damn happy about it Kelly didn't find it to be anything short of adorable, "She has my perfect Jamie's face and I love her so very much."

"I can't wait to see her" Kelly giggled before looking at Tiffany with a smile, "And how's my friend?"

"Tryggy?" Mindy giggled and nodded, "He's a good boy I love me some Tryggy. He's having a hard time with Connor because of the whole Cooper/Jamie thing, but he's another perfect little angel of mine and I think he will be so happy to see you"

"I hope so" Kelly nodded as the girls started to grad their sizes and head into the same dressing room since they'd been changing in front of the other for years and they needed to be each other's critics. Mindy was just about to walk into the dressing room when her phone rang and she jumped about three feet in the air.

"What would you like from my life?"

"For you to be my Baby Doll forever and ever" James's voice came on the other end and Mindy was squealing like a teenager, which Kelly found to be the cutest thing in the world and jumped to hug Mindy's arm. Tiffany wanted to gag.

"JAMIE!" Mindy hugged Kelly eagerly and was bouncing in place, "I miss you, Jamie I miss you I do"

"So come home" he said quickly and a bit desperately, "I wouldn't mind if you came home now I'm attempting to make them lunch"

"Oh yeah?" Kelly asked into the phone instead of Mindy, "And how's that working out for you?"

"That could be either one of two blondes that hangs around my Baby Doll and figuring that Tiffany hates my guts I'll place a nice bet that this is-"

"Barbie!" Kelly nodded happily and hugged Mindy's arm tightly as Tiffany silently changed into her pink bra and panties, "How ARE you, honey? It's been forever, I know"

"I'm…" James paused obviously to stare at Connor before running a hand through his hair, "I don't know if my wife told you but the baby talks a bit now"

"I heard!" Kelly giggled, "I'm SO excited to see Lizzie I got her an outfit I want her to try on once I get there!"

"Did you hear that, Lizzie Bear?" James cooed to the baby sitting in the high chair and Mindy placed a hand over her mouth she was trying so hard not to cry, "Aunt Barbie got you a present, yes she did!"

"Thank GOD Aunt Barbie is coming!" Scarlett's voice could be heard from a mile away, "I've had enough of these BOYS running around being mean"

"And what about me?" James asked with a frown, "I'm a boy"

"You're DADDY" she corrected while the girls in the dressing room were giggling loudly.

"I'll let you go okay, Jamie?" Mindy asked meekly and started fiddling with her hair, "I love you."

"I love you more" he responded lightly as she hung up and looked at Tiffany.

…

"I really don't understand what your issue with them is" Kelly shook her head from the backseat as Tiffany sat up front with Mindy in the little two-door Boxster.

Mindy had parked in the garage and burst inside to find James so he could help Kelly with her bags, leaving the two women to get out of the car on their own and then the garage door opened. James had Mindy with her legs around his waist and they were kissing.

"THAT" Tiffany shook her head in disgust but Kelly was already hugging James's waist and Mindy hopped down so he could hug her back.


	39. Chapter 39

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: It would be nice if they could go back. Things were so much simpler for them then.

…

"So…you enjoy the show I put on rich boy?" Taylor asked as they walked hand in hand away from the strip club. They were getting a few stares from the people around them but those were being ignored for the most part. Cooper wasn't exactly crazy about holding hands with a girl that wasn't Mindy or one of his little sisters but at this point, he was kind of desperate to be around someone who wanted to be around him and he wouldn't be killed for being near in the process.

"Enjoy the show?" he repeated incredulously. "Remember that entire conversation we had about me not being into girls?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well if I don't like having sex with girls, why would I enjoy watching them get naked? Tell me that wise one."

"Well…some of us are very good dancers."

He snorted at that. "Yeah…I could dance around a pole better than most of those girls in there."

She snickered loudly. "Oh really? I'd like to see that rich boy." She playfully shoved him towards a telephone pole. "Show me what you got rich boy."

He shook his head. "Hell no. Me gay boy. I only strip for boys."

"And if I suddenly grew a penis would that be a problem?"

"Yes actually. If you can suddenly grow body parts like that, that would just be gross and weird."

She threw her head back and laughed at that. "You're pretty funny rich boy. But you will strip for me one of these days. If you think you can do it better than us girls then you have to let the professional here be the judge of that."

He rolled his eyes, having no intentions of ever doing that. "Yeah yeah, what-" He stopped as he caught sight of a couple of bums doing drugs in an alley again. They weren't the same ones from earlier-at least he didn't think so anyway. He wasn't really looking at the guys so it was hard to tell. He was looking at the drugs and trying to control the sense of longing that rose up inside of him at the sight of them. He was so tired of always thinking about what he did and what a big idiot he was and how he ruined his own life and hurt the people around him and he wanted to die. He really did. But if he wasn't going to be allowed to die then he needed a way to forget. Why couldn't he be allowed to forget for awhile? He just wanted to forget and take the pain away for awhile. Why couldn't he just do that? He fucking already had suffered enough as it was. He didn't need to add more shit on top of it.

"Hey!" Taylor said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look away from his temptation. "Stop that, okay?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Because its obviously giving you ideas rich boy." She started pulling him along like he was a small child or something, which embarrassed the fuck out of him even though there weren't too many people watching them now. "You can't fucking do that shit okay? It's going to get you in a world of trouble."

He didn't give a shit about the trouble. Why should he care at this point? He had beyond fucked up his own life so it wasn't like he could really make it even worse. He didn't say that to her though. She wasn't going to get it. That was being made abundantly clear right now. She wouldn't ever get his reasoning for needing to do what he wanted to do now. And quite frankly he didn't care whether she got it or not. Yeah it was nice to be around her because she didn't totally despise him but he had never asked her to try to save him and keep him alive. If he had his way, he would be dead already. He wasn't looking for a savior. He just wanted a way out.

_She can't babysit me forever. She might think she can but she can't. _He wanted the drugs and he didn't care enough to fight that want at this point in his life. He would get them one way or another-it would all just be a matter of time.

…

Connor picked at his food, not really interested in eating at all at the moment. The food did smell good but it was made by Mindy, who Connor was still mad at. And on top of that, Mindy was sitting in James's lap and they were both feeding each other and putting on such a display that it was beyond ridiculous. He, Tiffany and Tryg seemed to be the only ones remotely bothered by it though. Everyone else was just eating and acting like there was nothing wrong in the world.

"We have to get your costume too Jamie," Mindy said as she fed him a forkful of food. "I have mine and now we have to get you one that goes with it."

James chewed his food and swallowed it before grinning. "What does go with a PowerPuff Girl Baby Doll?"

"Well…" She poked her tongue through her teeth and giggled "there's Professor Utonium. He created the PowerPuff Girls. Or maybe you could be one of the villains. My sexy bad boy you."

"Oh Lord," Tiffany muttered under her breath as James and Mindy's kiss turned into a full on make-out session. "They're worse than horny teenagers."

Kelly (who was sitting on the side of Tiffany Connor wasn't on) giggled and shook her head. "I think they're cute," she whispered. "They're like…so in love."

"Babs they're like this all the time," Tiffany shot back. James and Mindy were too lost in each other to hear this whispered conversation. "You haven't been here as long as I have. It's only cute a few times and then it gets sickening."

Connor had to agree with that. He actually contemplated tossing his plate at them to make them stop when Amber decided to be useful and talk and finally distract James and Mindy from their icky ways.

"I think you would make a good professor Daddy," she said with a nod. "You can put on your smart glasses and look even smarter with a lab coat on."

James grinned at her. "Well then that settles it. I'll be Profess Undypants."

Mindy snorted. "It's Professor Utonium silly."

"Ah…I should be Professor Sexy instead. That sounds really good to me."

Mindy grinned and knocked her forehead against his. "That's perfect."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Connor smacked his forehead and groaned, interrupting the kissing before it could get started again. "Connor why aren't you eating anything?" James asked, slowly shaking his head at the disgruntled young man.

"You gotta eat honey," Mindy said, looking like she was about to reach over the table and force feed him. She didn't put up with people not eating. Nobody missed a meal if she could help it.

"I'm not hungry," Connor said, pushing his plate away and standing up to his feet. "I think I'm gonna throw up." The doorbell rang and he let out a loud sigh of relief. "I've got it." He stomped out of the room and went to the door, opening it and finding Julie on the other side.

"Hey Connor," she said, stepping inside and taking her sunglasses off so she could look him over. "You okay sweetie? I heard about what happened-"

"I'm not okay," he informed her, snuggling up against her just because he knew she and Mindy didn't get along. "I hate my life."

"Ah…now where have I heard that one before?" Julie wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. "Anything I can do to make it better?"

Connor quickly nodded. "Get me out of here," he pleaded. "Please please please get me out of here!"

"Rosenberg! Is that you?" James asked even as he was coming from the kitchen to see her standing at the doorway with Connor.

"It's the one and only," Julie confirmed. She handed off the folder she was holding to him. "You gotta take a look at these and half dozen on the bottom." Her eyes began shifting back and forth between James and Connor, noticing just how tense Connor got when James came in. "Hey uh…do you mind if I take Connor with me for my errands? I haven't bought him a get well soon present yet and I figured I could just let him pick it out."

"Uh…well he hasn't finished eating dinner-"

"I told you I wasn't hungry," Connor said irritably. "I know what you think but don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to let myself starve."

James winced and Julie looked confused. "Connor-"

"Oh and if its dark in here when I get back I'll stay outside and sleep in my treehouse. I wouldn't want another ACCIDENT happening…although nobody would care anyway." He saw the way James's face fell and while it gave him some satisfaction he didn't let it show on the outside. Instead he just went out the door and headed towards the car, with a concerned Julie following close behind him.

…

Julie had known Connor his entire life and had always had a soft spot for him. She had forgotten exactly when it had developed or why it really had but it was still there and she felt really really bad for him right now. She had been shocked as hell when she had heard about what James had accidentally done to him and it had taken everything in her power not to kick his ass herself. And honestly, if it hadn't been for the fact that she was in no mood to deal with Mindy (who was no doubt justifying what had happened in some way), she would have done it. She would have kicked James ass three ways to Sunday and then would have done it even more later. Nobody did that shit to Connor. That was just wrong on so many levels, even if it wasn't intentional.

"Do you want to go to the toy store first or do you want to go get something to eat?" she asked. James had mentioned he hadn't ate yet so she figured she would feed him while she was at it.

Connor didn't answer. He just kept his head turned towards the window and sniffled loudly.

"Connor? Sweetheart are you okay?"

"No…" Connor's voice trembled and without saying anything else she pulled him over to her and held on to him as he burst into tears. "Ssshhh," she cooed gently. "Oh Connor…"

"It's not fair!" he whined, clinging to her for dear life. "I was just trying to protect Coopy and look what Daddy did to me! He stabbed me and stabbed on purpose because he was trying to get Coopy! And he says he's sorry but I don't believe him! I don't believe him at all and Mommy don't care because she only loves Daddy and I hate it because they only care about each other and Tiffany sent Coopy away when he came to visit me in the hospital and I don't even know where he is now! And Tryggy loves Mommy and won't back me up against her and I don't know what to do! I can't win because nobody cares!"

"Hey now, that's not true," Julie said, smoothing down his hair and shaking her head firmly. "That's not true at all."

"It is though! Nobody loves stupid me…Daddy called me stupid you know. He says he didn't mean it but I don't believe him."

Julie bristled when she heard that but she kept her cool because Connor needed some severe comforting right now. "You are NOT stupid, you hear me? You are a very very smart boy-"

"With a broken brain," Connor said unhappily.

"No. Your brain is just fine. Anyone who tells you otherwise is the stupid one, you understand me?"

He sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Do you mean it Julie?"

"Of course I do." She sat him back up and handed him a tissue. "I mean that so much."

"Are you upset that I got hurt?"

"Very much so."

"You're not going to side with Daddy are you?"

"Hell no. I'm on your side okay?"

"If you were my mommy instead of Mommy would you have been mad at Daddy?"

"You have no idea…"

Connor giggled and nodded, satisfied with those answers. "Will you buy me lots and lots of toys? And ice cream?"

"Of course. You don't even need to ask."

He grinned and hugged her tightly. "I loves you Julie. Lots more than Mommy and Daddy but not more than Coopy."

Julie just shook her head at that, deciding not to say anything to that and just start heading towards the toy store so he could shop to his heart's content.


	40. Chapter 40

**firewing pegasus: **Thank you **NeroAnne**: Connor definitely don't give a damn about how guilty James feels. He's pissed as hell and isn't about to do much of anything to hide it. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"So have you umm…" Taylor began from her spot lying under the covers next to Cooper at around four in the morning, "ever…actually tried hard shit?"

They'd gotten back a little under an hour ago and both were exhausted. She, for selling her soul through her body to keep up with rent while he just didn't get to go to bed until they got back.

Cooper took a moment before nodding stiffly, "Yeah."

"What'd you try?" her head dropped to the left so she could get a better view of his incredibly shadowed face, and noticing that his right hand was just laying there she frowned and took that hand in her own.

"Cocaine" he replied robotically while allowing his eyes to drift to that darkened poster on the wall and he felt like all kinds of a traitor.

Mindy was the woman for him if there ever truly was one, and here he was lying in a bed with another girl and holding her hand. It was a complete betrayal to Mindy and he felt like complete hell. All those times he'd sworn his love for her to her face and stressed how the only woman he could ever possibly want to be with was her… He'd been with her before which meant something so catastrophic concerning his lifestyle and orientation that he couldn't begin to fully put it in detail. No matter where his life took him there was only to be one woman in it, and he didn't care whether she was physically present or not that was the love of his life. People didn't understand how desperately he needed someone who could control his thoughts as well as his actions, who didn't need him to articulate anything at all, who constantly had him begging for more contact after only a few simple touches from her. He didn't get why it was so hard for Taylor to see that her beloved icon was the only woman he could ever love.

"Seriously?" her eyebrows rose and he nodded along silently, "Well damn! I can't say I've ever tried anything that hard"

"Bullshit" he shook his head with a smirk and looked her in the eye, which of course triggered a nervous giggle from her.

"What?" she gasped in astonishment and only giggled harder, "You think I'm lying?"

"I think you're a dirty rotten liar and I don't appreciate it" he smirked with raised eyebrows and received a punch to the arm.

"Dick" she shook her head with a snort, "I'm telling you the truth, alright?"

"Sure" he curled his lips in and nodded sarcastically, "uh huh. And I'm not gay"

She leaned over his body and kissed him, quickly pulling back and shaking her head slowly.

"You don't have to be gay all the time"

"So I have to now completely my sexual orientation because Taylor Michel doesn't like it?"

"Maybe" she shrugged lightly and pulled one of his arms into hers, "Ohhhh poor baby…" the pinpricks which once littered his arms were now clusters of red dots that would never go away and Taylor frowned, shaking her head in horror and going to kiss them when Cooper yanked his arm back possessively.

"I don't like it when people poke around me like I'm a science project, alright?" he asked harshly, "It's not something I'm particularly fond of."

"I-I'm sorry, I just…" she shook her head at his arm and he just shrugged indifferently.

"It's there, it happened, what can you do?"

"_Ooo poor baby…" Mindy frowned while staring at the clusters of holes in Cooper's arms as they on a couch in the living room together. Tears were streaming down her face as she brushed the dark wisps of hair from his face and snuggled as deep into his neck as she could become. _

"_Momma, its not-" he frowned as she shook her head and began to lightly place her lips over the holes on his arm, beginning to place small kisses all over his arms and then she couldn't take it anymore. The kissing ceased and she threw herself just entirely around him as if he could somehow break free and run away._

"_Baby…" she croaked through the faintest whisper and shook her head in horror, "How could you do that?"_

_He frowned so she tilted her head and barked through her teeth._

"_You PROMISE ME you NEVER do any shit like that, you understand me?"_

"_Yes, Momma!" he nodded quickly while holding her face so tightly he tilted her head back and wiped his fingers under her eyes, "Momma, I love you, I love you, Momma"_

"_Then do not TELL me you love me, Bub" she shook her head while motioning to the pinpricks everywhere and going back to kissing them, Cooper all ready to make her lips travel elsewhere but he stopped himself from forcing anything on her. "You SHOW ME by promising me you never do any of that shit ever again" she held up her pinky finger and pressed their foreheads together, actually straddling herself over his waist on the couch when his hips bucked up into hers and it was clear she liked whatever it was he did. _

"_I won't" he shook his head and tangled a hand into her hair, slowly bringing her head down and giving her a gentle kiss, "I won't, Momma" his lips latched to hers again and though she didn't respond as much as he would have wanted her to, his hips kept going and through their clothing he wanted her so badly. _

"_I'm serious, Cooper!" she wanted to moan at how hard she could feel him getting through his clothes but bit it back, "You can't fucking get tangled up in this shit and try to fucking kill yourself that's NOT the way to go!" she cried harder and shook her head at him in dismay, "How could someone like you wanna do that to yourself? I mean, LOOK AT YOU!"_

_He shook his head in denial when she cried even louder than before and held his face, _

"_You're so fucking beautiful, Bub…" she nodded and accepted another kiss from him before shaking her head, "don't leave me, Bub…I need you to help me help Daddy please please please don't go away from me"_

"_Momma I won't" he shook his head and held her hair, "I'm not going anywhere, alright? It's me and you" _

"_I miss Daddy" she wept loudly and buried her face in his chest, Cooper still eagerly moving his lower body against hers because he needed the contact. The fact that he contact couldn't spread to their skin was making him insane. Here she was dwelling over James when for all she knew he was dead and never coming back because Caroline took over. He made her life a living hell and since his body was possessed Cooper had decided to pounce on her, and hell was he faring well. Slipping a hand between her legs he felt her through her panties and he went to move them aside to get a better feel when Julie walked into the room and he knocked it off just in time. _

"_Is everything alright in here?" Julie gave Cooper a look while yet again Mindy went back to what she'd been doing the entire time, staring off into space. Only then did he realize every word that he thought came out of Mindy's mouth was all in his head. She had been constantly repeating 'I miss Daddy', and that made him want to curl into a ball and die. _

"Hey!"

That voice snapped Cooper out of his daze.

"Rich boy! Hey, yo! Earth to rich boy! Where are you?"

Snapping out of the daze for a moment he hugged himself once he realized where he was and trembled violently for a moment, curling into a ball in the bed and staring into the darkness hoping to die.

…

"Hmmm…" James surveyed a couple professor-like outfits with Mindy while walking with her and Elizabeth through the gigantic Halloween warehouse which had more costumes and décor than god. "What to you is professor like?"

"Well" she giggled and kissed him hard on the lips, "He wears a white lab coat-"

"With nothing underneath" he snickered when her head shook immediately and they kissed firmly on the lips, "No, no, no, Jamie!"

"No, no, no!" Elizabeth repeated and made both parents completely melt, especially James who nuzzled her in his arm and kissed the hell out of her.

"No, no, no, Lizzie Bear?" he repeated gently and she stared at him with those bug eyes Mindy had given her.

"No, no, no!"

"Well, if you say so" he sighed and kissed her even more, admiring the little pink dress Mindy had put her in because Kelly had bought it for her. She got a hot pink jumper with little daisies on it, a white floppy hat for her head in the sun, and hot pink sunglasses with little diamonds on the sides. "So what Do I wear, ladies?"

"Black pants" hugging his waist and kissing him again, she lightly groped him and shook her head, "I do not want anybody guessing what you look like under that coat except for me, Professor Sexy"

"I might have to make you stay after class" he chuckled and kissed her before leaning forwards into her hand.

"Good" she nodded with a giggle, "You also need a white shirt and a black tie, and umm…" she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair lovingly, "You slick it down flat and…" she shrugged, "yeah! That's it!"

"Do I get to wear pocket protectors?"

"YES!" she giggled loudly and they kissed, "Ooo pocket protectors such fun!"

"I think we're gonna have a lot of fun" she nodded while squeezing his hand in hers, "I forget how awesome it is to own our own porn enterprise"

"Oh yeah" he nodded wisely, "You've been to the Playboy Mansion, haven't you?"

"Yes sir!" she nodded with a bright smile, "Me and Taryn both! We usually go together"

"Am I ruining your friendship with her?" he asked awfully faintly, which made her frown and cock her head.

"What, darling?"

"Am I ruining your friendship with her?" he repeated slower, and a bit louder.

Elizabeth saw something fuzzy and went to grab for it, so before giving it to her James checked what it was before handing her the bunny which was poking out of a magician's hat. The bunny went right in her mouth and they would have bought it for her anyway.

"No…" she frowned and ran a hand through her hair, "why?"

"I'm not dumb, Baby Doll, I know she can't stand me" he shook his head and shrugged, "Your blonde friend is quite open about it"

"She does not mean it" she denied quickly when he shook his head and kissed her as hard as he could.

"I'm sorry, alright?" he rubbed their noses together and hugged her as close as he could possibly get her, "I'm sorry, Baby Doll I'm so fucking sorry for everything"

"Why?" she frowned and shook her head, "You never DID anything"

"I stabbed Connor, I-"

"It was an ACCIDENT, Jamie!" she sighed and shook her head, hugging his arm as close as she possibly could, "Connor is angry so he is trying to be mean and melodramatic about everything because he wants attention, okay? He's like the bratty kid who calls child services on their mommy and daddy because they got spanked for something. You are NOT an abusive daddy" she shook her head and hugged him tightly, "You don't have it in you to be that mean"

"I don't think so…" he shook his head when she frowned and hugged his arm tighter.

"Why is that, Jamie darling?"

"Well…" he cringed and snuggled her close, "for starters…look at all that shit I was capable of doing and did to you"

"And we knew that was Mommy"

"But that was MY body, sweetheart!" he grabbed her face and kissed her frantically, "That was MY body she was doing all that horrible shit with! I hurt YOU, I hurt the babies," his eyes fell on Elizabeth and he trembled uncomfortably, "I hurt OUR baby"

"No you didn't" she shook her head and cuddled him close, "I love you, darling, and I know you did not hurt any of us. It was MOMMY"

"But Baby Doll…"

"I love you. Stop feeling so down on yourself, you are my best friend ever and you always will be" the scar on her throat which was almost the exact one he had made him shake his head bleary-eyed and snuggle deep into her neck for as long as he could, kissing the skin and telling her he loved her to the point that if anyone else were around they'd get nauseous.

…

Kelly was sitting on the couch with Thorn and Scarlett while Chelsea worked hard on macaroni necklaces with Amber, readying paint for when Mindy and James got back so they could paint together.

"Where's Tryggy?" Amber asked as Tiffany came back into the room by herself, "I haven't seen him in a while"

"I dunno" Tiffany shrugged before kneeling at the kitchen table where Amber had all of the macaroni and paints spread out, "Are you guys still whipping out the Easy Bake oven later?"

"YES!" Thorn shouted from the great room, which made Kelly giggle and Scarlett roll her eyes at her twin.

"Fatass"

"Hey! I wanted it too!" Kelly giggled when Scarlett sighed and just played with Kelly's long blonde hair.

"Aunt Barbie, you just don't get it" Scarlett sighed with a shake of the head, "My twin is a TROLL who likes to eat EVERYTHING and our Aunt Trisha used to say when we gotted our periods and became young ladies it will all go to our THIGHS!"

"Don't believe that" Kelly poked her nose wisely, "She'd tell Mommy the same thing and she's a twig now"

"But-but-but" Scarlett protested lightly, "Aunt Trisha was never wrong, she wented to college, she did!"

"So did I" Tiffany shrugged, "and I'm STILL a dumbass"

"Amen" Kelly nodded even though she barely finished high school and Tiffany shot her the finger playfully.

"Right here, bitch!"

"I'm telling Mom when she gets home!"

"Go ahead" Tiffany challenged coolly, "Maybe it'll get her out of Dad's clutches for a minute"

"You REALLY don't like him…" Kelly's eyes widened and Tiffany nodded surely right away.

"You have no idea"

"I know how you feel" Amber sighed while helping Chelsea tie her first string, and Tiffany was really stunned.

"What was that, sweetie?"

"My Mommy and Daddy are a hard pill to swallow" Amber nodded before lifting her eyes and standing so she could wrap an arm around Tiffany, "Mommy needs Daddy to live though" she frowned, but nodded stiffly anyway, "If it was not for my Daddy I would not have my Mommy so I love him very very much and you should too. My Daddy is the best Daddy ever and he makes me mad a lot but I love him. We do everything together. He takes me to dance class a lot and he watches when Mommy gives me horse riding lessons and he helps me with my homework and plays games and he can make pancakes really good now because my Mommy taught him"

"I know, sweetie" Tiffany nodded and patted her head, "but-"

"My Daddy is the best Daddy ever" she repeated stiffly, "You'll never get Mommy away from him, not even I can do that."

"But you see" Tiffany frowned, in astonishment that she was dishing to a six-year-old, "I love your mom SO much, I really do…but I can't deal with the PDA and stuff all the time"

"I know they have sex a lot" Amber stated bluntly again, "but they love each other and when people are in love they screw each other."

"That's awfully observant for someone your age"

"Heh" Amber shrugged a bit and her eyes widened, "Not like I have much of a choice"

"But seriously, they've got you guys; they don't need to be doing that kind of stuff around you guys"

"We don't care" Amber shrugged indifferently, "I never said it was a tough pill for US, we meant for YOU."

"My Daddy" Chelsea nodded while making a necklace with him in mind to receive it, "I love my Daddy my best Daddy."

"You really have no problem with them?" Tiffany asked yet again and Amber shook her head.

"No…they're my parents."

"So how do YOU feel about Connor?"

"He didn't like me very much" Amber shrugged while sliding a paint cup closer to Chelsea so she'd be able to reach it with her brush, "He wouldn't have cared if it was me, just as long as it wasn't him or Cooper"

"Now that's not true!" Tiffany gasped when it reminded Amber and she continued.

"Or you…and maybe Tryggy. Depends on his mood how much he cares about Tryggy."

"Now, come on, hun" Tiffany sighed with a shake of the head, "You know"

"I've known him WAY longer than you" her eyes widened and she nodded, "he hates us. The only time he ever even liked my Mommy was when she was sneaking him to see Cooper and was keeping Cooper alive. Then he just went right back to hating her"

"He doesn't hate her"

"Oh but he does" Amber nodded right away, "He says she doesn't love him because of his 'real Mommy'…" she didn't even want Tiffany getting ideas, "that's not true. If that were it she'd hate Cooper too and she's completely batshit for him. Connor just doesn't like her" she shrugged, "and I love my Mommy even if nobody else does so I don't care when Daddy did to Connor anymore. He's my Daddy and she's my Mommy and that's that. I shouldn't punish him for an accident. Especially when I know my Daddy loves me because I'm his Pumpkin."

"And I'M…" Chelsea pointed to herself quickly with her thumb, "Princess"

"Yes you are" Amber nodded while running her fingers through Chelsea's hair much to Tiffany's horror, "and I'm sorry you don't like my stand, but it is what it is."


	41. Chapter 41

**firewing pegasus: **This family did get along quite well for awhile…then Cooper raped Mindy and things just started going downhill from there. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!" Chelsea said happily as she bounded towards the door. She had heard it open and in her mind it could be nobody else coming home but James and Mindy since they were the only ones she really cared about anyway. "Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

"Princess!" James put the costume he was holding aside and knelt down so he could scoop her into his arms and hug her tightly. "Did you miss me while I was gone?"

"Yes!" She held up the red and black macaroni necklace she had made and presented it very proudly. "Look!"

James got the biggest grin on his face and he let out a very exaggerated happy gasp. "Did you make that for me?"

"Yes!" She placed it around his neck and then tried to force the macaroni in his mouth. In her mind it was a candy necklace made out of macaroni and she had no concept of the fact that he couldn't eat it because of the toxins in the paint. He sure did though and he shook his head and gently pushed the macaroni away from his mouth.

"No no honey. No eat."

She frowned and tried once again to feed him the macaroni. "No no honey," he said again. "I don't want to eat it. I want to keep it forever and ever."

That logic got through to her and she smiled and hugged his neck so tightly that it got kind of hard to breathe. "My daddy," she declared happy. "My daddy my best daddy."

He grinned, really touched by those words. "Aw, thank you Princess."

She giggled and pulled back so she could point to herself. "I'm Princess."

"Yes you are," James said, happily kissing her on the forehead. "You're my special princess."

"Daddy!"

"Da da da!" Elizabeth said, doing her best to get James's attention away from Chelsea. "Da da da da no no no!"

Chelsea glared at Elizabeth for that but then smiled when she saw the stuffed bunny the infant was still holding. "Bunny! Hop hop hop! Daddy hop hop!"

"Yes," James said brightly. "Bunnies hop."

Elizabeth frowned at her bunny and then looked at Mindy curiously. "Hop?"

"Yes!" Mindy exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down in excitement because Elizabeth had spoken another word. "Bunnies hop Lizzie Bear! They hop they hop they do! Hop hop hop!"

Elizabeth giggled and started waving her stuffed bunny around happily. "Hop hop hop!"

James melted on the spot and while he was turning into a giant pile of goo, Thorn and Oxa came careening around the corner and Thorn latched on to his leg and started trying to pull him along by his jeans. "Daddy! Come here, I made some cakes! Come on come on come see!"

"Okay okay, I'm coming," he assured her. He took her hand and followed her into the kitchen, where she had been cooking up a storm with her little toy oven. There were a bunch of different cakes on the table and Scarlett was doing her best to keep Tryg from stealing one without permission.

"This one is for you Daddy," Thorn said as she grabbed a little chocolate cake and held it up proudly. "See? I made it special for you."

"Aw, thank you honey." He happily accepted the cake and literally stuffed the whole thing in his mouth at one time. To him these things were baby cakes and with his appetite he always figured he could eat about thirty of them before even beginning to get halfway full.

Mindy giggled and snuggled up against him as Thorn resumed her cooking. "I'll make you a big snack to go with that," she told him, knowing full well he wouldn't be satisfied with cakes that tiny.

"Really?" he said eagerly, completely excited because he absolutely loved it when she cooked him stuff. "Will you make it extra special for me?"

"Of course. You know I always do."

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her when he heard Tryg let out an excited whoop.

"Connor's home! Connor's home!"

Mindy glanced towards the door and pursed her lips. She wasn't exactly thrilled he had run off with Julie but James had come to figure that appeasing Connor for the most part would be better until he calmed back down and went back to acting normally again. "Come on, lets go see what she got him."

She shook her head as she went with him, still not looking entirely pleased. "I could have bought him better presents than she did."

"I know Baby Doll," he assured her, kissing the top of her head. "I know." They went outside and saw that while Julie was unloading the car, Connor (in full protective gear) had a skateboard in his hands and was looking to ride. "Rosenberg!" James said, majorly wincing at the thought of the damage of what Connor could do to himself on that thing.

"I know, I know," Julie said in exasperation. "I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen."

James groaned and watched as Connor placed the skateboard on the ground and prepared to get on it. "Connor! Can you come here please?"

"Why?" Connor asked, seemingly in a better mood than he had been in when he had left but also seemed ready to snap back into his funk if the wrong move was said.

"Because I think you're about to hurt yourself on that thing and I would like for that not to happen," James replied. "Remember what happened when you tried to ride Cooper's skateboard that one time?"

"_No no no, get him off of that thing," James ordered as he came outside to find Cooper finally breaking down and allowing Connor to touch one of his skateboards. Two years ago Cooper had gotten into the whole skateboarding craze and half the time James couldn't get him off of it, even when he was indoors. Connor saw Cooper always doing it and wanted to do it too but Cooper never let him touch his boards and James wouldn't buy him one because it didn't look safe enough for Connor to do it. "I told you I didn't-"_

"_Relax Dad," Cooper said with a roll of his eyes. The newly bleach blonde thirteen year old looked irritated by James's constant fussing over Connor. "Connor's got this, don't you Connor?"_

"_Yeah!" Connor cheered. "I got this Daddy!" He took off before James could say another word and as soon as both feet went up on that skateboard he promptly lost his balance and fell backwards, cracking his head open on the sidewalk because he wasn't wearing a helmet._

Connor rolled his eyes and decided to defy James and take off on the skateboard even though he had no real idea what he was doing on it. This time around he did a little bit better, but then he hit a bump and went flying off, making James cringe and Mindy shake her head and run over to him to check him over. "Daddy told you don't!" she said as she knelt down to check him over. "Do you have a boo boo? Let me see-"

"I'm fine!" Connor whined, shaking head and scrambling away from her while clutching his skateboard for dear life. "I has protection!" Much to his credit he got right back up and took off on the thing again, but once again, in a matter of seconds, he proved why he shouldn't have been on it in the first place. He crashed into the trash can and while the gloves on him kept him from scraping up his hands, he just about killed his ribs because that's what hit the can at full impact. "OW OW OW!"

"Okay that's enough," James said, going over there and reaching out so he could help Connor up. "No more of that."

"I can do it!" Connor snarled, getting back up to his feet and shaking his head. "I can do it I can do it I can do it!" He snagged one of the bags of toys Julie had gotten him and stomped off to the house, making James blink in confusion and Julie shake her head.

"That boy…look on the bright side though. He'll probably just break it within a day and then never touch one again because it's a mean infidel."

"If he don't I will," James promised, grabbing Mindy by the hand and heading back towards the house so he could keep an eye on Connor with that thing. He knew sooner or later Connor was going to seriously hurt himself with it and wanted to put a stop to it before that happened.

…

Cooper tried to sleep but he couldn't. His mind absolutely refused to shut down enough to allow him to drift off into slumber. It probably was for the best though. He couldn't sleep without dreaming about Mindy and dreaming about her just made him even crazier.

He glanced over at Taylor, who was having no problems sleeping at all. In a way he envied her because he really did need a decent night's sleep but he was actually just more relieved that she had finally passed out and he could move freely on his own without her always looking over his shoulder. He was never going to get what he wanted with her always getting in the way.

Being sure to be as quiet as possible, he carefully rolled out of bed and grabbed his tennis shoes before tip toeing out the door. His knife was in his pocket already and he didn't bother with a coat, both because he didn't care how chilly it was outside now and because with what he was about to do, he didn't want to get anything on it and have her asking questions. Questions were the last thing that he wanted to deal with.

Once he was outside he put his shoes on and then took off, blending in as much as he could and slipping into the roll of the hunter. It wasn't easy, especially considering all the shit he had on his mind. But the insanely strong craving he had helped to push that shit to the background and helped him to find the target he was looking for. The man was in a park not too far from Taylor's apartment, sitting on a bench with another guy, both of them just seemingly casually shooting the shit. Cooper knew better. He saw the discreet exchange of drugs and money taking place and he licked his lips in anticipation. He didn't even care what the fuck was being exchanged. All he knew was that he wanted it and he wanted it bad.

He waited until the dealer and the druggie got up and went their separate ways and then he made his move, easily sneaking up on the druggie and grabbing him and pulling him into the cover of the bushes. The man tried to yell and fight him off but Cooper didn't give him very much of an opportunity to do it for long. He pressed the blade of his knife against the man's throat and slit it, keeping his grip on him until he bled out and then he grabbed the drugs and threw the body down on the ground. He knew he needed to get rid of it but that didn't seem nearly as important as the need for the drugs he now held in his hand. It was a white powdery substance so it was possibly cocaine…maybe it wasn't but who even cared? He wanted it so he was going to have it. Simple as that.

He checked to make sure the coast was clear before darting to the public bathroom that was nearby just in case the kiddies had to potty during the day. He broke the lock on the door and slipped inside, checking the stalls to make sure nobody had snuck in another way before going to the sink and carefully pouring himself a line of whatever the fuck he had on the back of it. He took a moment to just stare at it, savoring the moment for as long as he could stand it before putting his head down closer to it and letting out a long sigh.

"Here's to my health," he said sarcastically before snorting it and letting the effects hit him with full force.


	42. Chapter 42

**NeroAnne**: It's pissing everyone off really…alerts are coming in late, it's still messing up (at least for our section it is; everyone else's seems to work just fine). The Ties That Bind will eventually cover Cooper's first trip into the world of drugs so there's that to look forward to. And it is hard to pick which kid is the cutest really; all of them are adorable in their own way. **firewing pegasus: *shakes head* **It's bad enough that he's doing it but to put shit in his system when he's not even sure what it is is just stupid on epic levels and could really come back to bite him in the ass. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

Naturally Stratusfear closed out the show with Mindy's biggest hit of all time.

Pyrotechnics, smoke machines, strobe lights, and lasers added to the mix of screaming fans as the pint-sized crowned jewel of the entertainment industry flipped her hair over her head and ran as close to the edge of the stage as her mind would let her without getting to close and eaten alive by the mass of monsters.

To act out one of the world's darkest and most dramatic gothic pop songs Chester from Linkin Park came out at the end to assist Mindy since Stratusfear had no real male vocalist and Paul McCoy of 12 Stones didn't happen to be in Vegas in fact, the snotty Mindy didn't even know if 12 Stones was still a band anymore.

"_Wake me up inside!"_ Mindy wore the most tattered and torn deep green dress like nothing no one had ever seen with fishnet thigh-highs and a black corset in the middle.

"_I can't wake up" _Chester grabbed her by the arm and she almost had to laugh because they were trying to make it as much of a stage show as they could. Most of this top scene was taking place all the way at the top of the stage in a building setting.

"_Wake me up inside!"_

"_Save me!"_

"_Call my name and save me from the dark!" _she was trying so hard not laugh because back in her misery days this song was like defining her life, but now? She almost hated it.

"_Wake me up!"_

"_Bid my blood to run!"_

"_I can't wake up!"_

"_Before I come undone!"_

"_Save me!"_

"_Save me from the nothing I've become!" _her arm went all the way up and she looked to the wing where James was watching her with a grin on his face because he knew she was bluffing to this crowd._"Bring me to life!" _she made like she was slipping off the building meanwhile there were huge fans which were setting off below stage.

"_I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside!" _Chester released Mindy's arm and she 'fell' to a bunch of gasps to be blown in the air by the super-fans to make it like she was perpetually falling forwards as she took the last verse away.

"_Bring me to life…!" _she held that note for fifteen seconds before gradually dying down and sinking into the stage flipped onto her back to end the show.

The audience boomed as giant curtains came down showing various flashes of Mindy in slow-mo and had an encouraging beat for the audience to clap along to screaming for an encore when the arena went completely black, and then acapella the inevitable came.

"_It's true; we're all a little insane…"_

The lights began to flicker violently as a heavy bass drum and guitar kicked in erratically.

"_But it's so clear, Now that I'm unchained."_

The lights came back revealing Mindy and Amber standing together in matching blood red ball gowns with a corset top. Both had microphones in hand as they continued the next part together.

"_Fear is only in our minds; Taking over all the time. Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time….!" _

Now the last 'time' was supposed to be around a twelve second note which Mindy often went crazy with but she backed out in the very beginning unknown to Amber, letting the six-year-old carry that entire note all by herself much to everyone's astonishment (including her own). She immediately stopped once she realized she did that all by herself, received an ovation comparable to her mother once Mindy motioned her to the audience, and the second Stratus prodigy was discovered as they both swung into the chorus with gusto now that Amber's head was bigger than the arena.

"_You poor, sweet, innocent thing! Dry your eyes and testify! You know you live to break me! Don't deny! Sweet sacrifice!"_

…

"PUMPKIN!" James lifted the lanky blonde six-year-old as she scurried backstage to him while holding her rustling gown and gave her a big kiss, "Pumpkin baby I had no idea! I didn't know you could do that! Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"

"Because she's SHY" Mindy finished the sentence and ran her fingers through her daughter's loosely curled blonde hair. "She does not like to show her talent off"

"Well I think she should" James nodded while holding Elizabeth in one arm and kissing his oldest daughter in the other, "What talented ladies I have."

"I know" Mindy nodded and gave James a big kiss as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"You were fantastic" he replaced the usual 'amazing' before smiling and kissing her again, "as usual."

"I love you, Jamie" she nodded before giving both Amber and Elizabeth a kiss, "Why don't we go out to dinner somewhere?"

"Taco Bell?" he asked hopefully when she nodded and gave him a big peck, running her fingers through his hair and biting his lower lip.

"Whatever Daddy wants…" she began when Amber nodded along and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Can you teach me how to eat the fire sauce, Daddy?" Amber asked a bit quietly and James nodded.

"I'll teach you how to eat anything you want" he nodded and nommed on her face, which made her squeal loudly and hug his neck before kissing her baby sister and giggling as Elizabeth squeezed one of her fingers.

"HEY there, Lizzie Bear!" Amber giggled as Elizabeth cooed and waved Amber's hand around since she was holding it, "Are YOU excited for Taco Bell? Huh? Are YOU excited to go out to dinner with Daddy and Mommy?"

"Hop!" Elizabeth shouted, looking for reassurance from her sister and parents when Mindy nodded and snuggled Elizabeth closely.

"Sure Lizzie Bear! We'll hop on over to Taco Bell!" Mindy giggled as her infant leaned forwards to give her a big kiss and James was right on Mindy's mouth after that, gliding his tongue against hers when she eagerly returned the favor.

"Did I ever mention how sexy you are in red?" he grinned cheekily. Along with the dress contrasting the raven hair she had blood red lipstick to match.

"I don't need to get changed" she held up a hand as they headed into her dressing room to grab their things since Elizabeth required a Louis Vuitton diaper bag and Mindy was nothing without her Prada fairy-print bag.

She never got changed when they went out to dinner afterwards, even though she had a gigantic poofy ballgown on.

"I'm not changing either" Amber announced, already taking after her mother when Elizabeth grabbed the hem of Amber's ballgown and stuck it in her mouth, "Hey!" she gasped once she noticed the baby had the edge of her dress in her mouth and was trying to chew on it, but couldn't stay mad at her and chuckled as James handed Elizabeth a pink teething ring that she could bite down on.

"Alrighty then I guess I'm stuck with two rockstars" James gave Mindy a wink and they kissed before Mindy grabbed her bag and took his hand tightly as they headed for the back so they could sneak out the side, no such luck.

The moment they opened the size door they were swamped with paparazzi and James had to roll his eyes while keeping his arms protectively around his women.

"MINDY! MINDY! MINDY STRATUS!" they all shouted at her variously while flashing pictures left and right and shoving microphones in her face.

"Get the hell away from her" James tried to wave them off but of course no such luck, and he was going to have no choice but to start to get violent if they didn't go away.

"MINDY! MINDY!" they tried again and she was making her best efforts to ignore them altogether.

"MINDY!"

She grit her teeth and wanted to smack them across the face.

"Is it true your estranged stepson is a drug addict?" that made Mindy freeze uncomfortably and stop walking.

"Baby Doll…" James edged her forwards slowly, but she refused to budge, "Baby Doll"

"What did you just say?" she began dangerously when even Amber's eyes got big and she reached out to grab Mindy worriedly.

"Mommy…" she tried to get her to move, and other photogs were getting into the subject since it seemed to highly bother her.

"Did you really send him back to rehab?"

"Is he still a meth addict?"

Cooper was never on meth…that was Jeff Hardy.

"How long have you known he was a bum?"

"Is he dead? MINDY can you comment?"

"Can you comment, Mindy? Please, make a comment"

Oh yeah, she made a comment alright. She clenched her teeth before balling a manicured fist and knocked the nearest paparazzi right in the face, and then proceeded to beat him with his own camera.

"Hey!" James went to grab her as security sirens blared in the background as the other photographers were snapping like crazy and taking video of the incident but Mindy didn't care. The security officers pulled to a stop when the realized who it was and she turned around stiffly and screamed.

"ARREST ME!" she dared them all while throwing her arms out, but no one did a thing. She was above any damn United States law; she was Mindy Stratus.

…

"Fucker" Mindy tried sawing into her Mexican Pizza meal when James fondly grabbed it and cut it for her.

"That was some ass-kicking, Mommy" Amber nodded while sitting with her gordita waiting for James to teach her the art of fire sauce.

"I was impressed" he nodded admittedly and kissed her on the lips since she was sitting in his lap, "I can't wait to watch it on Youtube over and over again"

"It'll be on TV too" she shrugged, "and magazines, and radio, and newspapers, and…" she wrinkled her nose, "internet shit."

"It could have been worse" James shrugged while nuzzling her neck, "You could have lost."

Mindy gave him a very serious look for a split second before wrapping her arms around his neck and making out with him in the middle of the fast food restaurant.

…

"Hey! Asshole!"

Cooper was kicked awake by the most random-looking guy he'd ever seen in his life. Then again, why the hell was he kicking him? Peeling his eyes open and glancing about Cooper was lying on the tiles of a bathroom floor in god knows where and he was all by himself.

He was dizzy; his head hurt, but then again so did his whole body. He felt like he was just bowled over by a freight train yet, he'd had this feeling before. As an ex-abuser none of this was really strange to him, except for the fact that he didn't know what the fuck he took. That could be a bad thing.

It did LOOK like cocaine, and it kind of smelled like cocaine…didn't it? He honestly didn't remember. It was such a good high all he could really think about was snorting the line and feeling all his problems just evaporate.

"Did you just hear a word I said, buddy?" he leaned down in the drowsy Cooper's face and kicked him again, "huh? Did ya hear me, ya bum? Get the fuck outta here before I-" he yowled in pain as Cooper's knife got him in the throat and collapsed to the ground. Cooper marveled what he did for a moment before gripping onto the sides on the sink to wobble to his feet and try to get a clear picture of the world around him, but it was just too hard. He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe. Everything was spinning yet he was in so much pain. He was in so much pain but he wanted more, he needed more, and he wasn't going to stop until he got more.

…

Rolling over in bed, Taylor felt no big log there as there had been previous nights and her blue eyes popped open like daisies.

"Rich boy?" running her fingers through her lengthy blonde hair she gasped and toppled out of the bed checking all over her apartment, "Rich boy! Rich boy, this isn't funny, come out wherever you're hiding! Come out come out come out!"

No sign of Cooper. Heaving a quick breath and glancing about in fright, Taylor grabbed her keys and bolted out of the apartment, shaking like a leaf while checking all through the halls and outside of the apartment building, where she caught a beat-up bloodied Cooper groggily walking towards her building and she gasped.

"Rich boy!" panting and trying to get her legs to work for her, Taylor sprinted out into the road and grabbed Cooper on the other side, flinging her arms around him and actually crying at the way he looked, "Cooper! Cooper!" her already raspy voice called hoarsely, "Sweetie honey…" shaking her head at his pitiful state tears filled her eyes and immediately she checked his arms since he was in no state to yank them away, and they were fine, "Honey, there's blood on your clothes…" frantically she checked for a wound but found none and decided to drag him out of the street so there was no mood for any kind of speculation that could have gotten him in trouble. "Come with me…"

…

Immediately she dragged him into her apartment when he started moving towards her bed to crash and pass out.

"OH no you don't!" shaking her head she grabbed his arm and hugged him as close to the bathroom as she could get him, "JESUS Christ, rich boy! What happened?"

Off his shirt came and she turned on the hot water, keeping the plug in the drain and screwing her day job to make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid again.

"What are you DOING, Cooper?" she lamented with a frantic shake of the head, 'What did you do to yourself?"

The moment the tub filled up with the most bearable level of heat she stripped him and despite whatever protest he put up at first she threw him into the tub and let him curl into a ball, rushing into the kitchen to put on a pot of any kind to maybe make him Chamomile tea.

"Hold on, rich boy! Don't die on me yet!" careening back into the bathroom she grabbed her loofa and frantically searched for the wounds to match the marks on his bloodied clothes, "CHRIST, rich boy! What happened to you?"

She shook her head and pet his face with her dry hand while gently squeezing the loofa over his shoulders.

"Did someone hurt you, hun?" she frowned and shook her head worriedly, "If they did I can…" her voice trailed off as she noticed there was no wound on his body, blood on his clothing, and he seemed to be in a post-drug use stupor. She was no idiot this was Vegas. "Or did you hurt someone…"

His pupils which were the size of pinheads constricted even more and she knew she'd hit it on the head, so pulling him close knowing he had a history of this she simply rested her lips to his temple and shook her head.

"Please, please, please rich boy get a grip on yourself…" she sniffled and hugged his body close to hers, "you're falling apart."

"So?" he shrugged, "Who cares?"

Narrowing her eyes at that, she swiveled his shoulders to face her and she pursed her lips.

"I do."

"Great"

"I mean it" she nodded firmly and wrapped an arm around him, "I fucking care about you, alright? And that's WAY more than you can say for anyone else"

His eyes narrowed when she shook her head and shrugged.

"How can you honestly care for something else when you can't even watch out for yourself?"

That made him freeze.

…

Taylor had watched him most of the day and actually skipped her day job which would piss her bandmates off, but she'd get to them later. Her bigger concern was the mess which was actually shivering on her bed from withdrawal already.

"My fucking god, rich boy what did you take?"

"I don't know" he shrugged and looked her in the eye, "but wanna get me more?"

"Absolutely not" she shook her head, "Christ, if I had known you're this much of a junkie I'd have hooked you on cigarettes to start off with instead of this new bullshit you're bringing upon yourself" she shrugged and pointed to the open windowsill, "or tried your luck with the god damn window!"

"And what?" he scowled, "Get STUCK because it only opens halfway?"

Her hand went over her mouth at that and she nervously laughed. She started laughing very hard when he smiled weakly and reached for her so she could give him a hug, and nervously she did.

"Can I come to work with you later?"

"If you're a good boy I suppose you can."


	43. Chapter 43

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **firewing pegasus: **Mindy's been Amy Lee before Amy Lee was famous…and Mindy's not a calculating person in the least. Sometimes she gets ideas and thinks of ways to get around stuff and they are intelligent ways to do it more often than not, she's not calculating in the least. And when she gets insulted, it triggers her paranoia and that's why she has episodes. She also just don't stand for people she cares about getting insulted; she's just about ripped someone's eyes out for Cooper before and she's still willing to do it within a heartbeat. **NeroAnne**: Oh yeah, Amber is mega awesome. And hell no that guy didn't stand a chance. When triggered Mindy is scary strong and can really hurt people. The guy should just be thankful he got to walk away with all of his parts.

…

"Play it again! Play it again!" Thorn cheered as she bounced up and down. James had gone on Youtube and had found the video of Mindy beating the fuck out of the photographer pretty much immediately. The footage was absolutely everywhere. It was the biggest story in the country and James could only shake his head as he started to play it yet again. He personally absolutely loved it and wanted her to do it again and again. The sight of her in a red ball gown beating the fuck out of some douche photographer…it was not only incredibly arousing but he felt like he had fallen in love with her all over again.

"Is Mommy going to get in trouble for this?" Tryg asked worriedly.

James shook his head. "No way. I won't allow that to happen." If Mindy attacked the guy then he deserved it. That was the way James saw it and there was not going to be any persuading him otherwise.

Thorn giggled and clapped her hands excitedly. "I wanna be tough like Mommy is! I wanna go to bad people and hit them like this!" She balled up her little fists and started swinging wildly. "Pow pow pow pow!"

"Well what would you do if they hit you in the FACE?" Scarlett asked, shaking her head at her twin like she didn't know what to do with her sister

"I would KILL them!" Thorn replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world (and with this family it kind of was). "Duh!"

"And what would you do if you got blood all over yourself? You would ruin your clothes-"

"Mommy and Daddy would buy me new clothes!" Thorn said. "Right Daddy?"

"Right," James confirmed. He hugged her tightly and then grabbed Scarlett and Tryg so they were in on it as well.

"That guy isn't going to come back and beat up Mommy, right?" Tryg asked.

"Of course not," James assured him. "I would never ever let him do that. He would die before he got within ten feet of her."

Tryg nodded and rested his head against James's chest. "When I'm big like you Daddy, I'll kill any baddy who comes near Mommy. You just wait and see. I'll do it. I really will."

"I believe you," James assured him. "I really really believe you."

Unknown to all of them, Connor had been at the doorway the entire time, watching the video too and listening in on their entire conversation. His focus though wasn't on Mindy's ass kicking abilities or protecting her from a vengeful photographer. No, he had heard all the questions about Cooper and drugs and he was now even more terrified for Cooper than before, which he hadn't thought to be possible. He knew that Cooper had done lots of drugs before and he watched enough TV to know that people who did drugs before could easily go back to doing them all over again, even if it was a long time later. And he knew his brother pretty well and he knew Cooper did stupid things when he was scared and lonely and wanting to die.

He shook his head and walked away, heading to where the other computer was in the house. He had to do something but he knew he was basically on his own. James would just let Cooper die, Mindy would probably just get mad at him anyway for saying Cooper probably was back on drugs, Tiffany hated Cooper now, the babies wouldn't help him even if he could…the only option he really had was Julie but she was so busy with work and stuff and he would just probably get her in trouble with James if he found out she was helping him. So yeah, he was basically all alone on this.

He could hear Amber and Mindy singing together in the other room but he blocked it out as best as he could as he sat down at the computer and got on the internet. His computer skills basically came from watching Cooper do it over and over and over again and while nobody usually let him on without direct supervision because they feared he would break it, he wasn't actually half bad on the thing. At least he wasn't if he didn't try to play games. When he got games he got excited and then when he lost he got mad. And that anger led to the breakings of computers that forever now marred his reputation.

Humming softly under his breath he managed to download a map of the city and print off several copies just in case one was discovered by infidels or lost or ripped up by Snoopy (he loved ripping up paper for some reason). Then he ran upstairs to his room and locked the door behind him before sitting down at his desk and grabbing a pencil so he could write on it. "Okay so I live here….Coopy's one house was here…hospital was here and that's where I last saw him…" He poked his tongue out of his mouth he was concentrating so hard. The city was big and there was a lot of places that Cooper could still be. But he did know drugs were bad and if Cooper was on them again then he had to be in a bad place. And there were some bad neighborhoods that he knew James wanted him and the babies to stay as far away from as possible.

He glanced back towards the door, listening as hard as he could to see if anybody was coming towards his room. It didn't sound like it so he went back to his planning. He was going to leave Snoopy and Spike at home because this rescue mission was much too dangerous for them to be a part of. He would have to take his knife, dark clothes so he could blend in, boom booms in case he ran into infidels, some snacks in case he got hungry and a first aid kit in case Cooper had any boo boos.

"Connor?" James called out, knocking on the door. "Can I talk to you real quick?"

Connor quickly hid his maps and stuff before getting up and opening the door just enough to poke his head out. ""What?"

"You wanna go see Saw 3D?"

Connor blinked and then resisted a groan. He knew what James was doing. This was a blatant bribe and while he did want to refuse because he was not actually looking to make James feel better yet, he suddenly thought that by acting like everything was going back to normal, James's guard would go down again and he could successfully sneak out better and search for Cooper without any problems. "On one condition," he said, opening his door a little bit more and folding his arms across his chest.

James was so surprised that Connor was actually going along with this that he immediately nodded his head. "Name it."

"If Mom comes along you can't do your icky stuff the entire time. It'll distract me from the movie and if you do it I'm gonna kill everyone there and then throw body parts at you and hate you more forever and ever. And I mean it Daddy. I really do."

"Hey now, no need for that kind of threatening," James said gently. "There will be total behaving there. I promise."

"You mean it?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"Will you buy me whatever I want and not complain if I ask for more in the middle of the movie?"

"Yes," James said, trying his best not to sound exasperated. "Now do we have a deal or not?"

Connor nodded and went to go slip his shoes. "Yeah. We've got a deal."

…

Cooper leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, knowing he was supposed to just sit there and watch the show and not get in any trouble whatsoever. He was under very strict orders from Taylor to behave but he had no real intention of following them. His body was shaky and he was compulsively wringing his hands together and he NEEDED a high so badly. He fucking NEEDED this high because he would go insane if he didn't. "Gotta get it gotta get it gotta get it," he said under his breath, anxiously tapping his foot as he surveyed the scene around him. He was looking to see if maybe he would get lucky and there would be someone in there that he could score from so he wouldn't have to go back outside and hunt someone down. He had no money on him still but that hardly mattered. He would get around that just like he had before.

"Hey!"

Cooper jumped slightly and saw a rather angry looking black guy who couldn't have been much younger than him looking at him like he wanted to rip his head off. "Huh?"

"You're in my spot white boy," the guy growled again, leaning over and getting right in Cooper's face. "Pretty little fucking white boy, who the hell do you think you are?"

Cooper shrugged. He really didn't give a shit about the guy's spot. What he gave a shit about was obtaining his high and he began scratching at the bumps on his arm without even realizing it as he tried (and failed) to conjure the feeling himself.

The guy's eyes went down to Cooper's arm and he smirked. "You needing some medicine white boy?"

Cooper nodded mutely.

"What if I told you I could get you some? Huh? What would you say to that?"

Cooper shivered and began scratching at himself so hard that he drew blood. "I don't got money," he said faintly.

The guy smirked and got right in Cooper's face so he could leer at him. "What if it's not money I'm after white boy? What do you say to that?"

Cooper tilted his head to the side. It was clear to even his totally currently fucked up mind what this guy was after. "How do I even know you have anything? How do I know you're not fucking with me?"

The answer he got was a grab to the back of the neck and the next thing he knew he was being dragged to the bathroom and slammed up against the wall. "I'll show you mine…" The guy reached into his pocket and pulled out a baggie full of white powder, making Cooper whimper in need.

"Come on white boy. You want it, you gotta work for it."

Cooper could have just killed him. He really could have. It would have been very simple and he would have gotten what he wanted. But he was at such a point that he didn't give a shit about anything anymore, even his own body so down he went on his knees, taking comfort in the fact that when he finally got his high, he wasn't going to remember this happening at all.


	44. Chapter 44

**NeroAnne**: lol I know. Of all the things Cooper can be called, the guy goes with that. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"Come on, Daddy! Come on, come on!" Connor dragged James up to the ticket booth excitedly and bounced in front of the window as the poor young man stared at him like he had eight heads, "Buy the tickets! Buy them! Buy them! I'll scream if you don't-"

"ALRIGHT, Connor…" James counted to three in his head and took a deep breath before pulling out his wallet and sighing at the man behind the counter, "Two adult tickets for SAW"

"Can I see your ID?" the man asked robotically, making James's eyes almost pop out of his head in astonishment. He actually started laughing and just proceeded to pull money out, when the guy just stared.

"That was a good one" James nodded at him with a snicker, "You almost had me for a moment"

"I need to see your ID" the guy said again, making James narrow his eyes and growl at the young man, "It's policy, sir. If I don't see your ID I can't sell you a ticket"

"DO I look like I'm under seventeen years old?" he didn't have a license to show the guy, so he was in a near-panic.

"Please just let me see your license, sir and I'll let you in. Its policy there's nothing I can do about it"

"How about," James pulled his knife out of his pocket and almost shoved it down the poor bastard's throat, "If you don't sell me the god damn tickets I WILL kill you…"

The man just about shit his pants and nodded rapidly, "T-twenty-two ninety five!"

"Very well" James gave Connor a wink and the man a curt not before handing him the cash and receiving the two tickets from the man, "Thank you sir."

"T-theatre eight, enjoy the show."

"Thank you very much" James sighed while holding both his and Connor's tickets because he was sure that Connor wouldn't be capable of holding onto his own ticket. He figured he just hand it to the guy at the entrance to the concession area for Connor so they wouldn't have to deal with it getting lost and going through that process once more.

"Where do we get the glasses, Daddy?" Connor, happy as can be, bounced alongside James as they got in line for the old Asian man that was ripping ticket stubs for all since the theater was practically gated off.

"Soon…" James watched as the ancient slowly moved the line along with great aggravation that the entire theater was roped off with a black line so no one could cross.

"What's with those, Daddy?" Connor frowned while staring at the barriers, and James was equally as confused.

"I have NO idea…" he shook his head with an eye roll, "I thought this was a movie theater, not a high-security prison"

"It's like Alcatraz!" Connor giggled when James nodded along right away.

"Nobody has escaped from AMC Theaters…" he looked around as if he were a secret agent and his eyes narrowed playfully, "it's all a trap."

Connor gasped and craned his neck both ways, "Really?"

"Yes" James nodded, clearly lying but Connor didn't seem to get that, "You see all those people?" The fucking theater actually had checkpoints where they would have to re-check James's ID that he didn't have so there would be more threatening. "They're actually killer robots armed with machine guns ready to steal you from the seats and drag you behind the snack counter to smother you with popcorn and slushies"

"WHAT?"

James said nothing, but sniggered while readying to hand the tickets to the Asian man just to gain entry to the concession area.

He'd bought Connor a gigantic tub of popcorn, candy, a blue slushie, and a hot dog before moving with him through the theater despite the looks they were getting for the amount of food they were holding towards the actual theater.

"Ooooo!" Connor was running ahead wearing his black dorky-looking 3-D glasses since the disgusting series was coming to a conclusion by making the final installment three-dimensional. It had gotten pretty nice reviews so James was more than looking forward to it, as was Connor.

Stopping in front of anything he could and leaning towards it to try and get any 3-D effect he could, Connor frowned and stamped his foot before looking to James who was holding all the snacks easily in his arms.

"DADDY!"

"What?" he finally caught up to him and stopped right in front of a poster with him.

"Why isn't everything in 3-D?" he shouted and balled his fists, "I can't see anything in 3-D I got ripped off!"

"That's because we LIVE in a three-dimensional world, Connor" James chuckled lightly while reaching over and ruffling his hair, "THAT'S why you can't see with the glasses."

"Really?" Connor gasped in astonishment when James nodded and wrapped an arm around him for a moment as they approached the checkpoint before the theater.

"Yes sir" James nodded before gripping his knife in case he had to use it as a last resort to get into the theater, but there were so many people moving past at once that the young woman completely missed him and he and Connor got right into the theater.

"Let's sit up FRONT!" Connor bolted like a bat out of hell to the first row and grabbed the middle two seats, which James wasn't too thrilled with so approaching slowly he gently tried to coax Connor out of sitting in the front row.

"Don't you think that's a little close?" James frowned in fear for his own eyes, "How about we sit in the third row? Or the fourth? Or maybe…?"

"I like the front" Connor said firmly, and that was that unfortunately.

"Front it is…" James sighed before sitting right up front with him and handing him his snacks, "are you going to share any of that?"

"Hmmm…" Connor was already shoveling popcorn in his mouth before shaking his head, "NO!"

"Suit yourself…" James sighed and checked the time on his phone hoping the theater would finish filling up and the commercials would start, yet here he was attempting to bond with Connor.

Literally three minutes into the movie Connor had cleared everything he'd been given to eat during the commercials and he elbowed James quickly.

"Daddy I'm hungry."

"But…" James frowned as two guys fought over a razor to either chop a girl who played the both of them up and save themselves, or cut each other and save the one who didn't get cut and the girl.

"I'm HUNGRY, Daddy!" Connor stamped his foot and scowled as James reluctantly pulled out his wallet and stood.

"What would you like?"

"NACHOS" Connor shouted, not caring about the enormous amount of people in the theater shushing him, "Now!"

"You be good" James warned quickly while leaving and being absent for a good fifteen-twenty minutes.

The line was practically out the door but yet he stood there, getting Connor his nachos and coming back into the theater to see he missed a nice hunk of the movie. A bit vexed, he sighed and switched his attention to Connor quickly.

"What'd I miss?"

"Shhhh" Connor snagged the nachos and started eating them quickly, "I'm watching the movie."

Normally James would have gotten annoyed, but it seemed that Connor was thoroughly enjoying himself so he let it slide. Anything to make Connor happy was enough to keep him happy.

…

The high Cooper got from snorting the line this time wasn't nearly as good as it felt last time. It wasn't enough, and he didn't understand why. He had passed out on the bathroom floor, but didn't crash very long. He woke up but didn't remember much of what happened beforehand, all he knew was that the amount wasn't sufficient and he wanted more.

Pulling himself up he didn't even look at the mirror because his vision was so blurry. His pupils constricted even more, and he snorted, wiping any residue from powder away from his nose though he didn't notice how red his nostrils were. His beautiful blue eyes were completely bloodshot and his hands just started shaking. He needed more, and he didn't know how he was going to do it.

Leaning over the sink and groaning loudly to get over an oncoming headache, he shook his messy hair out and stumbled out of the bathroom to try and find one of the clocks mounted on the wall. First there were three clocks from his blurred vision, and then there were two, and then one big clock revealed that he'd only been passed out for a few hours. Taylor worked much later than this so he had all the time in the world to venture out into the night and see what he could scrape together.

Since nobody really paid much mind, out a side door he went and down an alley he stumbled. Druggies shot themselves up and he needed to find someone to give him money for more, anything he could get his hands on.

Coughing he headed out into the street where he saw a group of young women leaving an apartment building. They were laughing and just going about their night, probably going out to eat somewhere which meant they had money; money that he needed. Taking a deep breath and gripping his knife in his pocket, Cooper headed out towards them and didn't even hide. They left their stoop when he grabbed two by the hair and stabbed the third right in the jugular. She shrieked and began to bleed but he didn't care. He literally flung the other two girls to the wall of the front of the building and began stabbing as rapidly and quickly as he could; ignoring whatever blood spurted everywhere because he could honestly care less. He didn't care about the butcher-job he was doing, he just wanted the cash. He needed it so he could find some shitty dealer and load up.

Despite the pained cries coming from the dying women no police were called. Luckily for Cooper he'd chosen the right neighborhood to pick up on old habits again. Blood pooled all over the ground and he didn't even bother stepping around it. He stepped right through the blood and got his hands on all of their purses, carelessly flinging things around until he got to their cash, which wasn't too much considering most chicks used their credit cards but maybe it'd get him something. Certain drugs were most expensive than others, and maybe he could combine selling himself with giving the money and get twice as much as he originally bargained for.

Sniffling and not even bothering to clean up after himself, Cooper just placed the money in his pocket and headed back towards the club to hopefully gather whatever he could for later since the amount he snorted was going to wear off soon. He didn't know when exactly it was Taylor got off, but maybe as she spent the remainder of the night prostituting herself he could take a couple of tips from her and just work for coke, that worked out just great.

As he headed back towards Private's Eyes he didn't even notice the bloodied footprints which followed behind him as he moved. There was literally a red trail leading from where he stabbed the girls to the side alley outside the club and down he went. The way he watched those bums; how happy they all were lying there without a care in the world. It made him so jealous wishing he could just lie there with them. Lie there with them and maybe intoxicate himself to the point that he dropped dead and made the world a better place, because clearly in this world there was no place for him.


	45. Chapter 45

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"Faster Daddy! Faster!" Connor ordered as he and James entered the grocery store. The movie was over and he had not only got James to make a stop at the store for treats, but he had convinced him to give him a piggyback in the process.

"I'm not going to sprint through the store Connor," James said with a shake of his head. "We already went over this in the parking lot, remember?"

Connor pouted his lips and started to whine but then he got another idea completely. "I wanna ride in a cart Daddy."

"And what if you get stuck?" James asked. "You're a little bit too big to still be riding in those carts."

"I don't care. I wanna ride Daddy. I do I do."

"Fine." James knew that he shouldn't do it but he was going to anyway. He snagged himself a car and let Connor get in it, shaking his head as he watched the scrawny younger man struggle to sit down comfortably. "I don't want to hear you cry if you can't get out, okay?"

Connor snorted and clapped his hands together excitedly. He still had on his 3D glasses and the very sight of him was earning him and James all kinds of stares. "Take me to the candy aisle Daddy! Go go go!"

"I'm going I'm going." James began to push Connor towards the candy, happily ruffling the younger man's hair as he did so. Now he knew that he really shouldn't be encouraging this behavior out of Connor anymore. Connor was twenty three years old, he wasn't a child. Not physically anyway…mentally and emotionally though he was and James knew that it was all his fault. Connor was never really going to be normal and it was because of circumstances beyond his control. James and Annabelle had been brother and sister. They were the last people who should have ever mated with each other. Something had to have gone wrong somewhere with their baby and unfortunately, it went wrong in Connor's brain. James had been in denial about it for years and now he wasn't, although he didn't really acknowledge it as Connor's problem. It was something he did so he was just going to take care of Connor and made sure he was happy. And if that meant appeasing him with candy and treats and letting him act like a brat, then so be it. It wasn't like Connor had much to look forward to if he grew up. Growing up was just hard and overrated and James didn't care for it a bit.

"I want the gummy cherries Daddy," Connor sad as he happily nodded his head. "And peanut butter cups. I want peanut butter cups."

"Check and check," James said with a nod. He grabbed the candy that had been requested and placed them in the cart. "Anything else?"

"I want ghost candy," Connor said with a nod. "And ice cream."

"Ghost candy…" James looked at the Halloween candy for options. "Crispy rice, Butterfinger or Snickers?"

"Butterfinger!"

James grabbed the Butterfinger bars shaped like ghosts and handed them to Connor before heading off towards the ice cream aisle. "Have you decided what you're going to dress up as yet?"

"Uh…" Connor tilted his head to the side and thought about it for quite awhile. "I wanna be a puppy! Like Snoopy!"

James chuckled at that. "A puppy huh?"

"Uh huh. What are you going to be for your party Daddy?"

James's lips twitched as he thought about what he was calling himself. "A professor, remember? Weren't you there at dinner when Mommy and I talked about it? I'm going to be the professor to go along with Mommy's PowerPuff Girl costume."

"Oh yeah." Connor went back to happily bouncing around for a second before frowning and shaking his head. "But Daddy, Mommy's not going to be a PowerPuff Girl."

"She's not? And when did this happen?"

"I dunno. Whenever she started getting too skinny. She's gonna be a skeleton Daddy. I know it I do, I can see her bones through her skin so I already know."

James stopped, very very disturbed by that comment. He had been noticing that Mindy was getting thinner and thinner despite his attempts to make sure she hate and stayed healthy. It bothered him so fucking much that she couldn't see what she was really doing to herself. It really did. She saw herself as something she wasn't and the world she was so desperate to be a part of just fed the fuck out of the issue.

"Daddy!" Connor whined impatiently. "Ice cream! I want ice cream, remember?"

James blinked and did his best to shake himself out of it. "Sorry," he muttered. He began pushing the car again and made sure he got Connor to the ice cream aisle as fast as he could. "There. Is that better?"

"Yes," Connor said with a nod. "I want pumpkin ice cream Daddy."

"Pumpkin ice cream?"

"Uh huh. It tastes like pumpkin pie Daddy."

That didn't sound very appetizing to James but he decided not to say anything and give Connor what he wanted.

"Okay Daddy, I'm ready to go now," Connor said, not even bothering to thank James at all. "Take me home."

"We'll go in a minute," James promised. "I just want to find something that Mommy would like."

Connor shook his head impatiently. "Why bother? She won't want to eat it anyway." He ripped open the bag of gummy cherries and began eating them despite the fact that they hadn't been paid for yet. "You know, if a tornado came it would blow her away and spin her around and around and around like it did the cow in Twister. Mommy would break though cuz she's all bones. She's not sturdy like a cow." He giggled and clapped his hands together excitedly. "I want a cow Daddy. Cows go mooo!"

James barely heard Connor's cackling. He now had an image of Mindy literally going around and around in a tornado cloud and it was making his stomach twist in a horrible knew that the chances of that particular thing literally happening weren't high at all but Connor's words just reinforced his own growing fears and made them that much worse. He knew that she had nearly died in the past on more than one occasion because of her eating disorder and someone that had actually used to work for his company had died because of it so he knew this was not something to fuck around with. This shit was fucking serious yet he felt so powerless because no matter how much he told her she was beautiful and perfect the way she naturally was, it wasn't enough. It wasn't fucking enough and it fucking upset him to the point where he honestly didn't know what the fuck to do with himself.

"Daddy!" Connor said, smacking James's chest and shaking his head unhappily. "Take me home! I want to eat my ice cream before it gets all melty." His face turned into a scowl when James just stood there, desperately trying to quell his growing fear and anxiety. "DADDY!"

James jumped, jarred out of his thoughts by Connor's impatience. "Okay okay," he said. "We're going home."

"Good." Connor continued to munch on his gummy cherries and glanced down at the peanut butter cups. He knew Cooper liked them so he needed to remember to bring some with him when he went to find him. There was not a problem that couldn't be solved by peanut butter cups and if there was, he didn't want to know about it.

…

When they got home Connor shot into the house like a bat out of hell, definitely feeling the high of the gummy candy rush. "Spoon spoon spoon spoon!" He slid across the kitchen floor, shooting right past Mindy (who was holding Elizabeth) and Chelsea (who was sitting on the floor coloring) and skidding to a stop right in front of the utensil drawer.

"Did you guys have a nice time?" Mindy asked, going right to James and wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, his heart dropping somewhere down to his stomach when he realized once again just how thin she had gotten. This wasn't right or healthy at all. He wasn't a doctor by any means but he also wasn't an idiot. There was no way this much weight loss was healthy for her. Absolutely no fucking way.

"We did!" Connor said, answering before James could. "It was nice and bloody and I love it forever and ever." He got his spoon and ripped the lid off his ice cream so he could dig right in. Mindy and James were getting so absorbed in each other that they completely missed the mischievous look that had suddenly entered his eyes. "Hey Mommy?"

"What?" Mindy asked, looking back to glance at Connor.

"Do you know about the word?"

"The word?" Mindy said in confusion. "What word? What are you talking about?"

"Oh you didn't know?" Connor asked with a giggle. "I thought everybody knew about the word."

"What word-"

"Baby Doll no!" James knew what was coming and he wanted to stop it but he wasn't about to have such luck

"Well-a bird bird bird, bird is the word. Bird bird bird, bird is the word!" Connor absolutely loved that song and he loved singing it to annoy absolutely everyone. "Bird bird bird is the word-"

Mindy shook her head. "No, why is the bird that word? I don't-"

"Bird bird bird! Bird is the word!"

"Connor please don't," James begged. "Please please don't."

"Don't you know about the bird? Well everybody knows that the bird is the word!"

"No!" Mindy said, stomping her foot and shaking her head at Connor. "Stop it, that's annoying!"

"No no no!" Elizabeth chimed in. "No no no no!"

"Bird fly!" Chelsea said, hugging James's leg and looking to him for approval. "Birds fly!"

"Bird bird bird bird is the word!" Connor jumped up and down and cackled loudly. "The bird is the word Mommy!"

"Okay okay," James said, trying to keep the peace before Connor kept going. "Why don't you tell Tiffany about the word?"

"Oh I will," Connor said with a nod. "Everybody will know about the bird."

Chelsea pouted her lips and tugged on James's pant leg even harder. "Birds fly!" she declared. "Fly!"

He smiled down at her and picked her up so he could kiss her cheek. "That's right, they fly. You're so smart Princess."

She giggled and hugged his neck, completely satisfied now. James hugged her back and smoothed Mindy's hair down, trying to focus on how cute she looked irritated instead of the glaringly obvious weight loss. "You wanna go get something for dinner?"

"I already ate Jamie," Mindy informed him. "But I can make you something if you want."

James didn't say anything to that. He just had this sneaking suspicion that she had either not ate anything at all or she ate something that didn't even constitute as a meal by his judgment.

"Jamie?" Mindy said, noticing that he looked far from happy. "What's the matter?" She frowned and shook her head worriedly when he didn't say anything. "Jamie!"

"I thought we talked about this," James said, shaking his head and petting her hair frantically.

"Talked about what Jamie?" Mindy asked, totally confused about what he was going on about.

"You're still fading away from me," James said, hugging her tightly and burying his face in her neck. "Stop it. This isn't fair, you can't fucking do this to me."

"Jamie-" She gasped as he squeezed her as tightly as he dared to and buried his face in her neck. There was so much that he needed to say to her to try to make her see how fucking beautiful and perfect she was and that she didn't have to listen to what anyone else said because he loved her more than they did. He loved her so fucking much and he couldn't just stand by and keep silent anymore but here he was, unable to speak because he had such a large lump in his throat. He tried to get the words out but they were firmly stuck inside of him, so he just hugged her tighter, hoping that would speak for itself.

…

Cooper was lost. Totally and completely lost. He had been trying to find the guy he had scored from earlier but he couldn't. The dude's face was one big blur to begin with and there was nobody else around that screamed drug dealer. It was really really frustrating him because he fucking needed his high now and he was not getting it. The one he already had was rapidly starting to wear off and he couldn't fucking go back to crashing completely. He just couldn't. Things were wonderful when he was high out of his mind. That was the only way he could live with himself anymore. Without it he was nothing and without it he just wanted to die even worse than he did now.

He stumbled out the side door of the club and began wandering aimlessly through the alley, so fucking desperate that his body was already starting to shake. He mumbled something under his breath but it was so incoherent that even he didn't understand it. Not like it mattered anyway. The high was all he wanted and he wanted one that was better than the last one. The last one didn't last nearly long enough.

"White boy? What the fuck are you doing out here?"

Cooper glanced over to his left and saw the guy from earlier. At least he thought it was that guy. Shit was getting way too blurry for him to be able to think clearly.

"What the fuck are you doing white boy?" The guy sounded pissed and he got right in Cooper's face and started pushing him around. "I fucking told you to get lost."

"Need more," Cooper said, grabbing on to the guy's shirt in a desperate attempt to make him understand. "Please I need it so bad…"

"You just fucking had some you idiot," the guy snapped irritably. "Are you fucking trying to OD on me white boy?"

Cooper didn't even respond to that question. "I got money," he mumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the cash he had gotten from the girls he had killed. "See?"

The guy snorted loudly. "Shit, that fucking shit ain't nearly enough. You must be out of your mind-"

"I'll do anything," Cooper whimpered, nearly crying he was so desperate. "Please please please I'll do anything…"

There was a long moment where the guy just stared at him in disgust and then the next thing he knew, he was being turned around and shoved against the nearest building. He felt his pants being roughly yanked down and he quickly closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, only hissing in pain when he felt himself being entered without any kind of preparation at all.

The fucking only lasted a few moments and it held no satisfaction for Cooper. No, the satisfaction came after, when he found himself being shoved to the ground and more drugs were being thrown on top of him. He grabbed on to them with one hand and quickly fixed his jeans before running off, having every intention to go up so high that he would never ever come down again.


	46. Chapter 46

**Esha Napoleon**: Yep *nods in agreement. And thank you. **NeroAnne**: lol yeah James is damn good at getting what he wants. It's something we could all learn from (although it might not have the same results for us that it does for him). Cooper definitely needs someone to get through to him big time; he'll definitely be hurting once he comes down enough to actually feel anything. Of course, his solution will probably be go get high again, which is just not going to help.

…

Black mesh billowy renaissance-style sleeves barely hung onto Mindy's tiny arms while her entire chest was hidden by the black strapless top which went up in a diamond almost at her neckline. The front of the black dress stopped short right below her waist where it turned into white ruffles which stopped at mid-thigh and gradually got longer as it went around her body so it literally dragged the floor as she walked. Half-dresses were a favorite among designers and this Alexander McQueen shoot had no less a goal than any of the other previous seasons. Mindy Stratus was the cash cow as always and if this pint-sized Barbie doll wore something, it flew off the shelves.

Alexander McQueen's designs were far too expensive for anyone other than a Mindy-status individual to buy for red carpet purposes, so this was actually more for recognition than anything. She'd be on every billboard, every magazine, all over the internet…who needed to actually sell with all that press which would have everyone saying 'Alexander McQueen'.

Mindy's twiggy legs were completely visible in the front and her knees were actually wobbling like a newborn giraffe's in the four-inch heels they were torturing her by forcing her to wear.

As it was she was uncomfortably standing in the center of a gigantic wreath of twisted and dead twigs to look like a birds nest of sorts turned up vertically. All lights were shut around the thorny wreath and smoke machines were working their magic all around.

"Mindy!" a photographer snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention and immediately she looked up and snapped herself out of the daze she temporarily placed herself in.

She hadn't eaten a thing that morning and lied to James about waking up early and eating some of the breakfast she'd made for everyone. She said she ate a plate while waiting for everyone to rise…but she didn't. She had a hard time remembering the last time she ate a thing, then again, she had a hard time remembering anything anymore her brain was so disoriented. Slowly she was becoming brainwashed by managers, photographers, casting directors and makeup artists yanking her around and sticking her in the most uncomfortable outfits for obnoxious periods of time.

"Bend your right arm a little more back, Mindy!" one of the director's assistants shouted at her, and though Mindy's arm was resting on the nest wall not far behind her, she forced the stick-like thing to bend even more and her collarbone completely popped out of her breastplate the moment she did so. Her face makeup was kept to a minimum with her lips, but her eyes were completely done-up in smoldering black so the ice-blue popped and her lengthy raven hair was tousled and flipped around to give it as much volume as physically possible. She'd been coughing a lot which was annoying the photographers to no end because they assumed she was getting herself a cold. "THAT'S it! Good girl!" the assistant gave her a thumb's up and she went to nod at him, but stopped herself halfway because that was bad and they would get angry.

"Pout the lips!" another shouted at her and she tried her hardest to do so, but the collagen was stating to wear off and she was going to need way more to show up on camera the way the wanted to, "Hold still…" the second assistant rolled her eyes and lifted her cell phone out of her pocket to make a call, "Hello? Dr. Raval? Hi, this is Rebecca Sawyer from Alexander McQueen and we're having a shoot with Mindy Stratus right here in Vegas but her lips just aren't doing it for us. You think there's a way you can make a quick house call and just puff her up? Oh, you can? Thank you." She hung up despite the frightened expression on Mindy's face at the thought of the needle she always hated and nodded at the director.

"I can't even do this" the director shook his head at Mindy and shrugged, "Until her lips are fixed I don't even want to waste film."

"What about her hips, sir?" one of the set designers asked as Mindy stood confused as to whether she was allowed to move or not, "Should we steam her down a bit?"

The director took one look at Mindy and nodded, "Dress off, fix the hair and makeup afterwards I can't look at her until she's been steamed."

Now she got the dumpling treatment.

"Come with me, Miss Stratus"

"Lawson" she corrected even though the woman didn't give a damn, "It is Lawson."

"Not here it isn't" the woman shook her head and led Mindy into the dressing room where she was stripped of everything and thrown a white robe of sorts, "Follow me."

The world was getting a bit dizzy from the bright lights around her, but Mindy followed her into the steam room and just sat, sweating off whatever they could lose in half an hour before being yanked and towel-dried as they all tailored to her hair and makeup.

"Step on the scale" one of the women dressing her pointed to the little white scale on the ground and Mindy complied wordlessly. Up onto the scale she stepped and the number 87 came up. Mindy's breathing became more haggard at that number and the women dressing her nodded a bit satisfactorily, "At least we're no longer pulling three digits, right?" she chuckled and Mindy forced herself to nod, but couldn't really speak she was so lightheaded. She wanted to go take a nap or at least lie down after being on her feet all day but still they were sitting there with BMI calculators and Mindy's manager saw the numbers and spoke up.

"I'd like to get you down to 80 so you're completely marketable" the head manager of Mindy's pinched her side even though there was barely anything but skin there to begin with, "You'd like to be marketable, wouldn't you?"

Wordlessly Mindy nodded.

"Then you won't have to deal with any of that flack and we can slap you anywhere."

Mindy was starting to become practically a bobble-head doll with big bug eyes and an artificial chest. Her eyes were so sunken into her head from malnutrition without makeup it was almost frightening, but there was so much makeup on her now who cared?

Back up she went and in those uncomfortable shoes she stood, bending to a certain degree back into the original pose (this was the ninth pose of the day) when the last person she wanted to see and the assistant ran over towards him.

"Hey, you made it!" she smiled warmly at Dr. Raval as he came already readying the first needle for Mindy's mouth.

"Don't you want to sit her down first?" he frowned when the director shook his head and pointed to the celebrity.

"Just stick her right there we're on a serious time crunch here"

"Alright…" Raval sighed and stepped up onto the set as Mindy looked at him with intense dread, "Deep breath, Mindy" he smiled for a second before bringing the needle to her mouth and injecting without warning into her lower lip. She shrieked at first and squeezed with her left hand to hold James's imaginary hand because he wasn't on-set to do so. She refused to have him there incase something funny like this came up.

"Hurry!" a photographer was already arguing with people in the phone and waving Raval, "Stick her and go we don't have all day!"

"Hold still, Mindy…" he got her once more and tears were streaming down her face from the pain, "All done!"

Annoyed to no end as the doctor left, makeup artists rushed to the weeping model and were wiping away the blood spots on her lips and airbrushing whatever they could to disguise that she was ever crying. Her lips were sore and she tried to stand upright to ease the pressure on her knees, but the director snapped his fingers angrily.

"MINDY!" he shouted and down she went once more, "I know you think we've got all day for you and everything but-"

The model suddenly got very glass-eyed before tumbling forwards and fainting, whacking her head on the ground and giving herself a huge concussion.

…

"Mindy! Mindy!"

She woke up in a chair in her dressing room with a medic applying a bandage to her bleeding head and several stagehands slapping her face. She tried to speak, but like a dream no sound came out and she frowned at her managers in a heated argument with the photo shoot directors.

"What'd you eat today Mindy?" one of the women asked her, and Mindy shrugged, "That's not good."

Mindy shrugged apathetically and went to pass out again when another woman touched her face.

"Remember the eleven green grape diet?"

Mindy nodded.

"Why don't you try going back to that, remember? Three in the morning, two for snacks, and six for dinner"

Mindy went to open her mouth to object to that when the women continued.

"You'll look SO gorgeous, Mindy. You're almost there."

…

Before Mindy even walked in the door she glossed her collagen-fused lips and took a deep breath while ripping the bandages off her head to hide the big bloody bruise she gave herself with her thick mane of hair. It was right on her hairline so she could hide it pretty well from James. As it was she wore a pair of baggy sweatpants and one of James's loose collared shirts as always while deciding to finally walk into the house because she knew they had finished eating dinner by now.

Heartsick, she opened the garage door and came in to Tryg and Chelsea running her way excitedly.

"Mommy!" they grinned and hugged her legs tightly, bouncing for her to bend and pick them up but once she bent, she literally could not move her knees anymore so she just fell onto her bony ass and let them climb all over her.

"Hey Mommy" Amber ran her fingers through Mindy's hair, and she immediately fixed it to hide the concussion wound when the twins came her way giggling happily.

"Your makeup is PRETTY, Mommy!" Scarlett marveled while touching her mother's face adoringly as Oxa snuggled close to Mindy, "I can't WAIT until I get to be a beautiful model like you!"

"You have to be TALL, stupid!" Thorn corrected, "Mommy's not a model Mommy's a rockstar!"

"I do a bit of everything" Mindy answered faintly to prevent a budding argument when Amber found the concussion wound on her mother's head.

"Did you go to the hospital for that?" Amber asked worriedly and Mindy completely ignored her.

"Ambie…" she shook her head and implied for her to stop and pouted her lips while looking into the kitchen, "Did you guys eat dinner?"

"Did YOU?" Amber, wise to her trick, asked even though Mindy nodded.

"They got pizza at the set" she lied through a smile and kissed Amber's head, though Amber highly doubted there was any truth to that. "Where's Connor, honey?"

"I don't care" Amber said stiffly before glancing about, "Why don't YOU go see Tryggy?"

"I will in a MINUTE!" Tryg snapped while hugging Mindy's neck, "I missed Mommy all day, OKAY?"

Mindy wanted to smile to say something but felt herself getting dizzy again and needed to go to bed.

"Where's Daddy?" Mindy frowned and glanced about when Thorn immediately jumped all over that.

"Oo! Oooo! I know! I know!" she nodded and kissed Mindy's forehead, "He was changing baby Lizzie Bear upstairs upstairs yes!"

"Thank you" Mindy nodded and off she went, but really didn't move much. Her joints in her legs were stiff so she moved at an almost robotic gate towards the stairs and grabbed onto the railings to physically pull herself up the stairs to get to James.

"Be CAREFUL, Mommy!" Scarlett and Thorn panicked while flanking her sides. Chelsea watched her mother actually trip and fall halfway up the stairs and just sit, unable to really move and wailed at the top of her lungs falling backwards onto her rear.

"Mommy" panting Amber tucked some long blonde hair behind her ear and sat a couple steps higher than Mindy to lift her chin, "what are you doing? You're scaring us."

"I'm sorry" Mindy croaked while slowly shaking her head, "don't let Daddy see me, okay?"

"Why?" Scarlett frowned and ran her fingers along Mindy's fair face, "Daddy-"

"Chels, c'mere…" Mindy extended an arm and beckoned so the two-year-old scrambled to her feet and bolted for her mother up the stairs, sitting in her lap and crying while burying her face in Mindy's chest since it was the fleshiest part of her body now and it wasn't even hers.

…

James finished up changing Elizabeth and putting her in pink footed pajamas when the lights in the room shut and the door was closed.

"Baby Doll?" he furrowed his brow and glanced about for her when two legs wrapped around his waist and her mouth covered his, immediately telling him something was off.

"Did you get your lips done today?" he wasn't aware she had an appointment, and Mindy nodded. "Can I see?" he kissed Elizabeth and temporarily placed her in a bassinet when Mindy shook her head and just kept kissing him as best she could, "Are the lights staying off tonight?" he frowned and she nodded quickly.

"I missed you" she panted with a frantic nod, "I missed you so much, Jamie I thought about you all day I missed you I miss you so much, Jamie please I miss you!"

"Then don't go away from me" he frowned while keeping her forehead against his, making out with her until it hurt to breathe and effortlessly dropping her body to the bed to make love to her. Two bony arms twined around his body and she cried audibly while holding onto him.

"I love you, James, I love you!" the very fact that she called him 'James' screamed something wasn't right, "I love you, James I love you I love you!"

"I love you more, Baby Doll" he nuzzled her neck even though there was barely a neck to nuzzle anymore, "Don't go away from me."

She kept his face buried into her skin because she couldn't settle with the idea of his eyes on her even for a second anymore. Despite whatever he said to appease her she knew how monstrous she looked and didn't want him to have to see it. At least with the lights out he could pretend he looked however he wanted so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself at the thought of actually having sex with someone so ugly. She looked like a mess and she knew it, which was driving her mad. Someone as gorgeous as him should have to settle for her, and between the two of them she was most certainly the lacking one. More than anything she wanted him to love her but not be forced to look at her because she was so ashamed of herself, and if she had her way he'd never have to ever again.

…

"Seriously I don't know what you're gonna do with him" the redhead said to Taylor as they found Cooper in the alley once again, "Obviously taking him to work wasn't the answer."

"Well I can't fucking leave him at home either he just goes out and does this shit every fucking time" she ran a hand through her hair and shook her head at him, "It's like, I don't know what the fuck to even DO anymore for the guy…"

"To be totally honest…" the redhead put a hand on Taylor's shoulder and frowned, "I don't think there's anything you CAN do for him anymore. Once a junkie always a junkie, not like he's gonna snap out of it because you asked kindly."

"I just feel BAD" Taylor frowned and motioned towards him, "Rich boy's got no one out there to take care of him and"

"So just let him" the redhead shrugged, "He's more trouble than he's worth why else would Lawson have cut him off?"

"He raped his mom"

"Oh yeah!" the redhead nodded, "That too! You've got a junkie and a rapist living with you, Tay! GREAT choice in men you got"

"He's gay"

"OH! And he's GAY too! So he's a gay rapist coke-addict…" she clapped Taylor on the shoulder sarcastically, "even better!"

With that she left Taylor alone, and the blonde had no choice but to frown and sit in front of Cooper until he woke up so she could get him home.


	47. Chapter 47

**Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! **NeroAnne**: I agree, he can go do that although there'll be someone else who will have another idea about what the guy can go do…

…

With James distracted by Mindy's rapidly deteriorating condition, it was easy for Connor to sneak out completely undetected. He instructed Snoopy and Spike to go to Tiffany and Tryg if they needed anything. He had left them plenty of food and water so they were set for awhile and then he had left, running for a bit until he was sure nobody was following him. He was happy that his plan was underway and he checked the house Cooper had been staying in and then some of his old haunts just in case he happened to be at any of them. He wasn't but since Connor had figured he wouldn't be he didn't get too upset or frustrated. This part of town was good and if Cooper was on drugs there was no way he would be there. He would be in the bad part of town with the bad people. "Imma save you Coopy," Connor said to himself as he walked along, looking at the picture of Cooper he had brought with him so he could show it off to people who might have seen him. "I will. I'll bring you home and hide you from Daddy so he don't get mad."

Now James knew the entire city like the back of his hand and Cooper usually did too but Connor did not have that kind of sense of direction. The map only did so much good because he really didn't know how to use it properly. So he just wandered through the streets, going further and further away from home while humming softly to himself and searching anywhere he could to look for Cooper. He didn't have a watch so he didn't know how long he walked for. He just knew that it started getting darker and darker and by the time night had completely fallen and he was in a neighborhood he had never been in before. He felt a chill go up his spine but he tried to ignore it. He couldn't get scared now. Cooper needed him.

"Coopy?" he called out, peering down an empty alley. "Coopy are you here?" He ventured down the alley, moving anything in his way to see if Cooper was hiding behind it. "Coopy this isn't funny. If you're here-" His voice trailed off as he heard the sound of voices behind him. He turned around and saw a group of gang bangers walking where he had just come from and he started to walk toward them, intending to ask them if they had seen Cooper anywhere. Before he got within five feet of them though, he hard the sound of a car screeching to a halt and suddenly there was gunfire, some of the shots going wild and whizzing right past his head.

"WAHHH!" Scared out of his mind, Connor turned around and began running blindly down the alley. Guns really freaked him out. He could watch them in movies all day but in real life they terrified him. "Coopy!" he yelled, nearly tripping over his own feet he was running so fast. "Coopy!"

There was no Cooper though. There was only a fence blocking him into the alley and he began to climb it but stopped when angry dog ran up on the other side and began snarling and barking. "Stop that!" he yelled, trying to shoo the thing way so he could get to the other side without being bit. "Go away! Don't be mean!"

The dog just barked and growled even more and began pouncing all over the fence, making him shriek and fall backwards in fright. He hit the ground hard, banging the back of his head so hard that he saw stars dancing above him. "Owie…" he mumbled, turning over to his side and curling up into a ball so he could cry quietly. This search wasn't going well at all so far. What the hell kind of world had Cooper gotten himself into? Guns and mean doggies and drugs…Connor didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

After laying there and crying for a good while, he forced himself to sit up and rub the back of his head gingerly. The dog was gone; it had wandered off somewhere and Connor never wanted to see it again. He carefully got up to his feet and began to scale the fence once again, whimpering and shaking his head. He didn't like this place at all and just wanted to find Cooper so they could go home. Everything would be okay once they were home. It just had to be.

…

"Baby Doll…" James's voice was barely a whisper as he stared down at his sleeping wife. She had on one of his hoodies on and was using it as nightgown while also keeping herself wrapped in as many blankets as she could. It was like she was hiding from him and he hated it. He could see that she was doing it and it made him feel totally uneasy. Earlier she had called him James. She never called him James. He was her Jamie until something was wrong. And if she wasn't angry or upset with him that meant something else was horribly wrong.

Swallowing the growing lump in his throat, he carefully began to unwrap the blankets from around Mindy. He was going very very slowly, wanting to make sure that he didn't wake her up. If she woke up she would just try to hide and not let him see what he needed to see. _Oh Baby Doll…my sweet Baby Doll…please don't let this be as bad as I think this is…_

Elizabeth started to stir in his arms and he quickly shushed her so he could continue with his task. The closer he got to seeing her, the more his hands began to tremble. He gritted his teeth and tried to keep a hold of himself but it was hard. He hadn't even seen her naked in quite awhile because she was hiding so much from him. It bothered him. It bothered him so fucking much. Why was she hiding? He was her husband. He was the last person she should be doing that to.

When he finally got to just her and the hoodie, he placed Elizabeth in the bassinet and stared at Mindy's face for a very long moment. It was so gaunt that it frightened him but he did his best to swallow that fear as he very carefully lifted the hoodie up so he could peer underneath it. As soon as he did so, he immediately wished he hadn't done it. What he saw made his heart stop inside of his chest and his eyes just about popped out of his head. How thin she was…he had pictured it in his brain but it didn't even compare to the reality that was before him. His Baby Doll was just…he didn't even have words to describe it. Her ribs and collarbone were sticking out so plainly that he could see them even with just the moonlight to illuminate them. The only part of her that had any kind of weight of all was her breasts and that was pretty much just because of the implants at this point.

He quickly placed the hoodie back down and for several minutes he just sat there, his hand over his mouth and his eyes on her stick legs. There was no way she even weighed a hundred pounds now and he felt absolutely sick with guilt. What the fuck was wrong with him? What kind of husband was he to allow things to get this bad?

He quietly got to his feet and grabbed his phone before slipping out of the room. He crept into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, sinking down to the floor because his legs couldn't hold himself up anymore. He sat there in a daze for a second before dialing Julie's number. He didn't give a shit what time it was or what she was doing. She was going to help him and she was going to help him now.

"Hello?" came the groggy voice of Julie about five rings later.

"We've got work to do," James said, his voice so hard and angry that it made Julie sit up and take notice on the other end.

"James what's the matter? What-"

"Don't ask questions. Not right now. Just listen to me."

"Okay okay. I'm all ears."

"Whatever Baby Doll has planned, cancel it. Whatever appearances, concerts, photoshoots, cancel them all."

"Does she not-"

"She don't know. Not yet. I'll talk to her about it in the morning."

"James are you sure-"

"She's SICK Rosenberg! She fucking…she fucking looks like she's…" The word he was trying to say was dying but it was too horrible for him to get out. Instead he shook his head and got back on track as best as he could. "I'm her guardian, remember? I have final say over her and I'm saying she's done. She's fucking retired again, you understand me?"

"I understand," Julie said, not about to argue with James when he was so upset. "Her managers are going to raise hell over this. Would you like me to deal with them or-"

"Oh no. I'm going to deal with them personally. Don't you worry about that."

"Oh boy…" Julie let out a nervous sigh at that. James hardly cared though. He just hung up the phone and put it aside, just sitting there for a moment before burying his face in his hands and trying to pretend that the water in his eyes were due to allergies. He was so fucking scared now and in his fear his anger began to rise. He knew there were people directly responsible for all of this and they were all going to fucking pay. Maybe he couldn't kill all of the media but he was damn sure going to make sure the body count got extremely extremely high. That was a fucking guarantee.

…

Connor kept on rubbing the back of his head as he walked along, not only completely lost but hungry and suffering from a headache as well. He wasn't wearing a jacket so he was starting to get chilly but still he went on, mostly because he was still so determined to find Cooper and also because he wouldn't have been able to find his way home even if he tried. "Coopy?" he called out, not liking the looks of this place at all. This was one of the really bad places he wasn't supposed to be in and he was so scared that he stuck his thumb in his mouth and began sucking hard on it. He wished he had brought Snoopy and Spike with him after all. They would have at least been able to keep him company during all this.

He turned on to another street and saw a couple guys in baggy clothes talking to each other on the corner. Now if he possessed a normal person's common sense he would have avoided these two characters at all cost. But he didn't, so he marched right up to them and held out the picture of Cooper he had with him. "Have you seen my brother?" he asked.

The two guys looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Man do we look like we've seen shit?" the first guy asked angrily.

"You've got eyes," Connor replied innocently. "And you don't look blind so that means you can see." He held out the picture and tapped his foot impatiently. "My brother is missing. I needs to find him. Have you seen him?"

Neither man answered him. They were too busy staring at him and getting on his nerves because they were being infidels and not cooperating. "You look familiar," the second guy informed him. He turned to his friend and nudged him with his elbow. "Haven't we seen him somewhere before?"

"I think we have," the first guy said with a nod. "Ain't he Mindy Stratus's stepson? You know, the retarded one?"

Connor's eyes widened and he shook his head angrily. "I'm NOT retarded!" he whined, stomping his foot and shaking his head even more. "I'm not!"

The guys acted like he hadn't said a word at all. "You got any money retard?" the first guy asked while the second guy circled him like a vulture.

"I'm not a retard!" Connor whined again. He was trying to keep his eyes on both of the men but it wasn't that easy. "And I don't have money."

"Oh yeah? And why do I find that hard to believe?" the second guy asked.

Connor gulped, not liking this situation at all. "Imma go now," he announced, deciding that it was time to go look for Cooper elsewhere.

"You're not going anywhere," the first guy growled, pulling a gun out and making Connor freeze in his tracks. "You hear me?"

Connor whimpered and shook his head. "I has no money! I don't I swear!"

"We'll be the judges of that." The second guy tried to snatch his bag and out of instinct he kicked him in the shin and that made the first guy shoot him in the shoulder in warning. Connor screamed in pain and crumpled to the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder while the men looked through his bag and found absolutely nothing of value that they could steal.

"Oh come on now," the first guy said in disgust. "You think he has money in his pockets?"

"Maybe," the second guy replied. "But even if he don't, who cares? The kid himself is worth money. How much do you think Stratus and that husband of hers will pay to have him back?"

The first guy chuckled and Connor whimpered, scared and in pain and just wanting out of this situation at any cost. "Let's find out," the first guy said. He went to grab Connor and Connor was so frightened that he whipped out his knife with the hand attached to his good arm and stabbed the guy in the chest. The guys' eyes widened and Connor kicked the gun away because it was bad and he didn't want to be near it. He started trying to yank his knife out but it was hard because he not only had one arm to use but the other guy was on him, hitting him so hard that it felt like his face bones were breaking. Screaming at the top of his lungs (despite the fact that nobody who could hear him would even help him in this place), he sank his teeth into the guy's neck and bit down as hard as he could, his mouth filling with blood as he literally ripped the guy's throat right out.

He somehow managed to get his feet underneath the guy on top of him and he kicked him off before finally being able to rip his knife out of the other one. He laid there in a daze and then burst into tears, not caring that he really needed to get up and get out of there. He wanted to find Cooper but this was starting to get too much. Just way too fucking much. "I wanna go home," he whimpered, standing up and taking off again even though he still didn't know how to get home. "I wanna go home I wanna go home I wanna go home…"

…

Mindy's head manager never heard James break into his house. James was too quiet and he was in too deep of sleep. In fact, he didn't wake up at all until James had him tied to a chair and started dousing him with gasoline. "Wha…wha…" His eyes widened as they landed on James. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked incredulously. He tried to get up and that was when he realized he was tied down. "What the hell are you doing? You let me go-"

"Why?" James asked, his voice so cold and emotionless it would have spooked the ones nearest and dearest to him if they heard it. "We have to talk and I have to make sure I have your full and undivided attention."

"Talk?" He started struggling wildly against his restraints and James just watched him do it, completely unamused. "Talk about what? There are more civil ways-"

James didn't want to be civil. That was not on his agenda at all. Balling up his fist he swung angrily, punching the guy so hard that it busted his mouth right up. "My Baby Doll is fucking dying because of you and your team of fucking idiots," he hissed, his whole body shaking in anger. "She's a fucking skeleton-"

"She is not," the man said, not realizing just how dumb of an idea that was. "Mr. Lawson, I've done my job for many years now. Miss Stratus has always been on the chubby side and I-" That comment earned him another punch to the face, this one resulting in his nose being broken.

"My wife is fucking beautiful and perfect the way she naturally," James snarled, ripping the other man back by the hair so they were looking eye to eye. "YOU are fucking trying to bring her down to hurt her and make her believe shit that isn't even REMOTELY true! You are fucking KILLING her!" James punched the man again before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a book of matches. "And I don't put up with that shit. Nobody hurts my Baby Doll and gets away with it. Absolutely nobody."

"No wait-" The man tried to beg and plead for his life but James wasn't listening at all. He was way beyond caring to hear any of it. He lit the matches and smirked coldly. "You're fired," he announced, dropping the matches down and stepping back as he watched the helpless man burn for his sins.


	48. Chapter 48

**firewing pegasus: **Cooper really wouldn't be too much help to Connor really at this point honestly. He's a complete fucked up mess. And yeah, James is totally obsessed with her and it definitely is mutual…to them it's perfectly healthy and natural although the rest of the world definitely don't see it that way. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

The moment Mindy woke up the next day she'd made sure the hood stayed up over her head before rolling on top of James and kissing him as far into the bed as possible. Little did she know he was already awake with Elizabeth in his left arm while returning her kisses and touching her face.

"Hello my beautiful Jamie that I love more than anybody ever" she giggled while willingly gliding her tongue into his mouth and running her fingers through his hair, "mm I love you, I love you good morning!"

"I love YOU" he responded while nuzzling her jaw and allowing a hand of hers to slide over his bare groin and stroke him, eagerly awaiting his hips to buck into her little hand but he shook his head. "Pull the covers down" he nodded while watching her pause for a moment and frown, "I want to watch, Baby Doll, I haven't watched in a while"

"Why?" she frowned and leaned forwards to kiss him, checking the drawn curtains to ensure that it was impossible to see her frame, "I like it in the dark"

"You never used to" he frowned before she complied by pulling the comforter and sheets down so he could watch her hand before feeling himself unable to take it anymore.

With harsh breaths he ripped his hoodie over her head and lifted her practically weightless body so he could lower her onto his cock, cringing at how light she was before being taken away by the tight wet heat.

"Baby Doll…" he could feel practically every bone in her little body and panicked, slowly trailing a hand up her stomach and skimming over every single rib before gliding up over her fake breasts and she held the hand there while grinding into him harder.

"Jamie…mmm Jamie…!" she moaned happily while kissing him and he was too far gone and absorbed into her to really do anything about it, but Elizabeth had no issue. A small black remote control which controlled the lights in the room sat to her left, so the baby out of boredom reached over and stuck it in her mouth, accidentally gumming some of the buttons and click! All the lights went on and James was facing not his once healthy wife, but a heap of bones held together by sickly pale skin and long raven hair. "Jamie…" she didn't move from the previous spot as his hand reached up and trailed all over each and every bone sticking out from her.

"What do you weigh?" he asked coldly, making her freeze up and stare at him blankly for a moment. "I said what do you weigh?"

"Don't worry about it, Jamie darling" she shook her head and felt the need to remove whatever thoughts he had out o his mind, so by leaning over him and pumping her hips she knew she was the one who controlled his breathing and what came out of his mouth.

"Baby Doll I'm being serious" he said again but she didn't answer, just sucking on his neck with intention of building his cock up so high all he could think about was releasing, "What do you weigh now, don't lie to me please" he shook his head drearily and help her lips transfer from his neck to his mouth, "don't lie to me, Baby Doll what do you weigh?"

She hesitated answering yet again and it scared the hell out of him.

"Please, Baby Doll I love you! I love you, I love you, I do please! Don't shut me out, PLEASE don't shut me out!" the very way he was pleading threw her off and she frowned before kissing him harder and reluctantly crying into his neck, "What, darling?" his fingers rubbed her bony back and he could actually feel her shoulder blades poking out of her back, "Baby Doll, sweetheart, please what do you weigh? TELL ME what you weigh PLEASE you're making me so sad-"

"Eighty-nine!" she shouted angrily and shrieked, burying her face in his chest as he choked on one of his own breaths to think that over.

"Eighty…" his voice trailed off and he croaked with intense dread, "eighty-nine?"

"Yeah" she nodded and swallowed a had of spit before leaning and kissing him again, "but it is OKAY, Jamie it is OKAY I am fine now"

"No it's not…" he croaked while shaking his head with a whimper, "It's NOT fucking okay you're dying on me! You can't be eighty-nine pounds, baby you're wasting away! There's nothing LEFT of you!"

"Yes there is!" she nodded and went to squeeze a pinch of fat on the sides of her stomach, "There's lots and lots, Jamie see?"

"No" his head shook coldly and he growled, "I don't. I see the most beautiful perfect gorgeous woman to ever live trying to kill herself because-"

"Jamie…" she shook her head and sighed with a kiss, "It is not so bad, my darling" she nodded weakly to keep his attention and pulled Elizabeth up so she covered his view from her disgusting body, "You are just not used to it, my darling but" she nodded and tried to distract him with more kisses, "You will, my darling. I love you SO very much"

"Then why would you hurt me like this?" he croaked with a dreary shake of the head, "You're trying to go away from me…"

"No" she shook her head in a panic and kissed him, "I am making myself BETTER for you, Jamie darling!" she nodded as he started to breathe quicker and shake his head in denial.

"I never wanted you to change I would never want you to change you're my Baby Doll, remember?" he nodded and touched her face with an affectionate kiss, "Baby Dolls are perfect and beautiful and don't have to waste away because I love her so very very much forever and ever and she'll never go away from me"

"Now Jamie…" she shook her head with a frown and kissed the center of his chest, "why would you want me to be fat when I can be better?"

"I don't want anything else"

"But you do not know what it is LIKE to have better anymore but you will" she nodded as a croak, "My perfect beautiful Jamie deserves everything the best because I love him…" she cooed while whispering against his ear and knowing he was coming undone, "I love you, I love you, I love you, Jamie…nothing I do is to hurt you."

…

An hour or so later, Mindy was in their bathroom putting on a pound and a half of makeup so she didn't look dead when James came in and placed Elizabeth in a single arm so he could nuzzle Mindy's neck and kiss her as roughly there as he could, admiring her hickey trail and cuddling her close as he could get her. Not liking that she was putting makeup on to begin with, he slid a hand down her front and removed the eyeliner from her hand gently.

"You don't need it, Baby Doll" he cooed into her ear with a shake of the head, burying his nose in her hair and relishing the sugar cookie shampoo in her hair, "You're so fucking beautiful, you don't need anything on your face"

"But I am going out, Jamie darling" she reminded him with a poke to his nose and covered his mouth with hers for a few long moments, reaching back to grab a handful of his hair with her butt pressing into his hips hoping to somehow rub her wet core against his jeans and get him all hot and bothered.

"Where are you going?" he frowned while shaking his head, "I don't want you to go anywhere, I want you to stay home with me"

"YOU know how busy I am, Jamie darling" she nodded while tongue-kissing his Adam's apple and arching her back at how easily she got his cock to be straining through his pants for her, "I do not have much time really"

"No…" he frowned, "you don't. And I hate it…" he paused and rubbed her arms with his thumbs, "I want to be with you."

"I want you too" she nodded while spinning around to face him and rubbing her hand over his jeans between his legs, "But I have a radio appearance today"

"No you don't" he shook his head and at first she thought he was kidding, actually giggling and leaning down to kiss him while sliding a hand down his pants.

"Silly Jamie" she giggled at how hot his flesh was in her hand and she shook her head, "I miss you SO SO much already but I will find a way to make it up to you forever somehow, I promise"

"But I mean it" he nodded as the stroking of his cock turned into flat-out teasing, "You don't have anything today"

"Oh yeah?" she raised an eyebrow and glued their mouths together, "And what about tomorrow, Jamie? What do I do tomorrow?"

"You don't have anything tomorrow either" he shifted his position a bit and leaned back so she could wrap her little fingers around him tighter, "Or the day after that."

"What…" she furrowed her brow and shook her head while sitting on the counter and spreading her legs widely for him so either he could fuck her or she could blow him before she had to leave, "what are you talking about, darling?" she laughed a bit nervously, "I have a career of things I have to"

"Not anymore" he shook his head stiffly at her before standing between her spread legs, "You no longer have a schedule and as your legal guardian I am implementing that it stay that way"

"But WHY?" she panicked and shook her head at him, "Jamie WHY would you do that, I…" she shook her head in horror, "You have no right"

"I have EVERY RIGHT as your guardian to do whatever the hell I want with you" he said a bit uncharacteristically harshly and shook his head, "And last night I made my first move officially"

"Oh yeah?" she hissed at him, "And what's THAT?"

"I fired your head manager"

"WHAT?" she shook her head in a panic when he leaned down manically and gave her a big kiss, "I fired him, I did. I sat him down and torched him up"

"JAMES!"

"What?" he yelled at her, "Upset that I took away the main person who was killing you?"

"James, this is INSANE"

"I'M INSANE!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" she shrieked at him warningly with a slow shake of the head, "You are PERFECT and I LOVE you! But you are ACTING insane because I am not dying"

"WHAT IS THIS?" he screamed while ripping a handful of hair back so she could see the bloodied welt in her own reflection, "WHAT IS THAT?" he didn't need her to answer, "You hit your head, didn't you? From FAINTING my Baby Doll hit your fucking head-"

"JAMIE"

"NO! You're letting those mother fuckers STARVE you and in return THIS is what the result is" he lifted her little short loose dress so she could see her own ribs though it had no affect mentally on her, "You're DYING! That man was murdering you!"

Elizabeth started to cry and Mindy motioned towards has pointedly with a scowl.

"Great going, Jamie" she nodded with heavy sarcasm, "NOW look what you have done to our beautiful Lizzie Bear she is crying because she knows her Daddy is a PSYCHO because he has no idea what he is talking about"

"SO that's it" he shrugged as she removed the baby from his arms and got her to simmer, "You don't love me anymore and you love all those fucking strangers more than me"

"Jamie…" she growled and shook her head, "NO."

"You would sooner believe billions of people who HATE you over the only person who really loves you"

"They know what they are talking about"

"Oh! And I need my eyes checked?" he snapped before shaking his head with intense dread, "You WANT to go away from me…don't you?

"

"No, Jamie" she rolled her eyes as he panicked.

"No I understand, this is all my fault" he nodded and hugged her close desperately, "You were angry with me for not noticing your weight loss and now you want to leave me"

"NEVER my GOD!" she screamed and shook her head with a growl, "I NEVER want to leave you Jamie, you're my HUSBAND"

"Then WHY are you killing yourself, huh? Am I THAT horrible a husband that you want to do this to get away from me? Do you hate me that much?"

"What do you care?" she snipped, "It's MY body"

"That's my bone marrow making you have my hair, my nails, my taste buds, my organs, and my blood making it YES, Baby Doll" he nodded at her, "MY body just as much as it is yours. What do you think will happen to me if I let you die, HUH?" he grabbed her arm and tugged her against his chest, "What do you think I'll do?"

"Probably be just fine" she shrugged, "You have Connor and Lizzie Bear and you can hire a babysitter for Lizzie Bear-"

"I! CANNOT! LIVE! WITHOUT! YOU!" he screamed in her face and barred his teeth before turning away and slapping the counter, "My fucking GOD how hard is that for you to understand? You're MY WIFE! Nobody else's! Only MY opinion should EVER matter to you I fucking love you"

"I know that" she nodded stiffly and frowned, "But Jamie you do not-"

"I don't know why the FUCK you don't believe for one fucking second that I wouldn't stake myself on a skewer if you asked me to I love you so fucking much…" he ran a hand through his hair and growled at her once more, "I fucking LIVE for you…! I would die for you! You're my fucking HEART, Miranda!" he panted through his nose for a moment before showing her his wrist where her name was tattooed in black ink horizontally, "You go anywhere, I go too! It's my job to protect you, and its my job to defend you from evil mother fuckers like THAT" he kissed her nose as she cried and kept their foreheads together, "No one will ever take me away from you, you're fucking stuck with me"

"And I WANT to be stuck with you, Jamie" she nodded and put her own wrist with his name on it next to his, "I just wanna be pretty for you"

His heart dropped to the very pit of his stomach at that, "You were beautiful from day one"

"Obviously not" she shook her head with a sniffle and a frown, "You did not even LIKE me"

"Of course I did…" he frowned and ran his fingers through her hair, "I just want you to be healthy and happy for me"

"I will be happier if I am prettier"

"You couldn't be any more beautiful if you tried, Baby" he nodded with wide eyes endearingly, "You're perfect to me."

"I think you are making it up" she shook her head with a frown, "You are so very beautiful, Jamie"

"Not compared to YOU, Baby Doll you're stunning! I breathe for you-"

"If you did then you would not have DESTROYED MY CAREER when that's all I have, James! Singing is my LIFE!"

"I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR LIFE!" he growled in her face and made her nose wrinkle in disgust.

SLAP!

"I'm only good at ONE thing, James! ONE thing in the world"

James blinked at her, more emotionally wounded by that slap than anything else; even Mindy's hands were shaking.

"You're my wife…" he croaked at her expecting her to nod, "You're my best friend; you're good at that please-"

SLAP!

"I HATE YOU!" she coughed and slapped him harder, "YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME ONLY YOURSELF! You don't CARE if I die you just can't be ALONE! I KNOW you think I am hideous and you LIE! You LIE YOU LIE YOU'RE A LIAR AND I HATE YOU!"

"Baby please…" he tried to take a step towards her when her nails dug into his arm and she greeted him with a big old SLAP!

"Please, baby…" he begged, trying to find a way to get to her for forgiveness when, SLAP!

"I HATE you…" she growled through her teeth and shook her head, "At least by dropping dead I get away from YOU!"

"You don't mean that" he shook his head at her drearily when she looked at their daughter and back at him before grabbing one of the glass containers she often kept lotions of sorts in and smashed it to the ground, letting him know exactly what she had to say to that before violently snatching the infant from his arms and storming out of the room, leaving him in a state so terrifying if she were in her right mind would have had a near heart attack over.

…

Connor whimpered while holding his shoulder, crying softly to himself over and over again.

"I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home…" he caught someone walking on the other side of the road, so immediately he bolted their way only to have them take one look at him approaching and scream, making Connor scream equally as loudly and be forced to leave them alone. Hugging himself and deciding there was no safe place, he curled into an alley and actually hid behind trash cans so nobody would shoot him after he passed out.


	49. Chapter 49

**firewing pegasus: **For this family, it seems like once shit starts going wrong, it just really unravels. And we're only just over halfway done with the story so there's more shit to come. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Oh yeah, it just poured in like a giant tidal wave *shakes head* And thank you.

…

Tiffany held Chelsea in her arms, doing her best to soothe the crying toddler while trying to help Kelly calm the other babies down as well. They had all heard James and Mindy yelling at each other and it had shocked her and Kelly and horrified the babies. None of them had ever heard them scream at each other like that before. Tiffany hadn't even thought it was possible, given how lovey dovey those two always were with each other. But it had happened and it had happened because James had taken steps to making sure Mindy didn't die due to trying to live up to standards that nobody should ever have to live up to. Mindy was getting sick as fuck. That was a fact. She was way too thin and couldn't keep going on like that. And James was obviously scared and worried because he couldn't hide his emotions when it came to her and what did Mindy do? She screamed that she hated him for the entire house to hear and probably just about killed James. He was a total puppy dog for her and Tiffany was actually kind of scared to see how he was reacting to all of this.

"Ssshhhh, please don't cry," Kelly said, trying to hug Tryg and the twins all at once but not succeeding as well as she wanted to. "Please don't cry, it's going to be okay. It will be I promise."

"No it won't!" Scarlett wailed miserably. She was crying so hard that she now had the hiccups. "Mommy and Daddy are going to get a divorce!" She burst into a fresh set of tears and buried her face into Kelly's shoulder while Thorn slipped away from Kelly so she could hug Oxa instead, who nuzzled the little girl affectionately.

"Hey now, that would never happen," Tiffany said, trying her best to assure the hysterical child even though they all seemed past the point of being able to be comforted. "Your mommy and daddy love each other very much-"

"Mommy said she hated Daddy," Amber reminded her. She was keeping her distance from the others, not wanting comfort from anyone around her because it wasn't like it would really help.

"Your mommy was upset," Tiffany explained gently. "And sometimes when grownups get upset, they say mean things they don't mean at all."

"But Mommy sounded like she meant it!" Amber countered, folding her arms over her chest and shaking her head. "What if she really does mean it? Or what if she doesn't and Daddy believes she does and he leaves and never comes back?"

"I don't want Daddy to go!" Thorn wailed, hugging Oxa so tight that she was probably choking the poor animal. "I want him and Mommy to stay together forever!"

"Babies they will!" Kelly said, desperate to get them to calm back down. She ran her fingers through Tryg's hair (he was just crying and not saying anything) and nodded along to her own words. "This was just a little fight-"

"Mommy and Daddy never fight though!" Scarlett cried. "Never ever!"

Tiffany knew that was true but being the adult, she knew that it had to happen sooner or later. But she knew that being as young as they were, the kids really weren't going to get that. Mommy and Daddy had fought, so according to them, life as they knew it was over.

They all heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs and Amber bolted out of the room first, closely followed by the other kids. Tiffany and Kelly exchanged looks before following suit, Tiffany still trying to get Chelsea to calm down. "Daddy!" they heard Amber yell before they caught up with the kids and watched them jump all over James, who had sunk down on the couch and was sitting there with the most heartbroken expression on his face. Tiffany wasn't even sure if "heartbroken" was the appropriate word to describe him at the moment. It looked more like he had just had his heart ripped right out of his chest and stomped on.

"Daddy Daddy!" Thorn and Scarlett shouted simultaneously. They were hugging James and kissing his cheeks desperately, crying even more because they could see he was so upset.

"Daddy!" Chelsea said, squirming around in Tiffany's arms until she let her go to James as well. "Daddy!" She climbed up on to James's lap and hugged him tightly.

"Daddy we love you," Amber said, petting his head and attempting to rock him back and forth in her quest to comfort him.

"Yeah, we love you lots Daddy," Thorn added.

"Please don't divorce Mommy," Scarlett begged, still utterly terrified about that happening. "We love you and Mommy. Don't leave her and us please don't."

James blinked, snapping out of his daze long enough to shake his head at her. "I would never leave any of you," he assured her. His voice didn't even sound like his own so that didn't help with the whole comforting thing he was attempting. "Ever."

Scarlett sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Don't hate Mommy because of what she said," she begged, horrifying James because he was realizing just how much they had all heard. "Please don't hate her please don't."

He tried to say something to comfort her and assure her that he couldn't hate Mindy even if he tried. But the lump in his throat was too large so instead he just hugged all his babies as tightly as he could, desperately seeking comfort from them. The shit Mindy had said to him was getting to him so badly that he was completely and totally mind fucked. He was trying to tell himself that she hadn't meant any of it. She was just angry and upset that he was putting his foot down and yanking her away from the spotlight but it wasn't doing much good. The fact of the matter was, the shit had been said and it was fucking killing him. He hadn't meant to make her mad at all. He had just been trying to protect her.

Tiffany sighed and motioned for Kelly to stay downstairs with the others before slipping past them and going upstairs so she could find Mindy. "Mindyloo?" she called out, heading towards James and Mindy's bedroom because she could hear the sobs coming from there. "Loo?" She knocked on the door and tried to go in but the door was locked.

"Go away!" Mindy shouted angrily.

"Loo Loo please-"

"No! Go away!"

Tiffany let out a giant sigh and considered ramming her shoulder into the door in an attempt to get it open and go in anyway but she decided against it for the moment. Maybe she would try getting in against once Mindy had calmed down a bit. An angry Mindy was nothing to fuck around with under any circumstances. So, letting out one more sigh, she headed towards Connor's room to check on him. He had been keeping quite the low profile ever since James had taken him to the movies and that just was not normal behavior for him. He was really not capable of keeping a low profile unless he was up to something. "Connor?" she called out, reaching out and knocking on his door, frowning when she didn't get an answer from him. "Connor?" She opened the door and saw that he not only wasn't there, but his window was wide open. "Oh fuck! Not again!"

…

Cooper woke up with a head splitting headache and a cheek that was stinging very badly. "Ow…" he groaned, his vision so blurry that he couldn't see a thing for several minutes. When he finally regained his vision, he slowly began trying to sit up but immediately laid back down when he got so dizzy he wanted to throw up right then and there. "Owie," he whimpered again, hugging himself and hating how absolutely miserable he felt. He fucking hated crashing so fucking much. He had actually forgotten just how much he had hated it until now.

"Oh thank god you're awake," Taylor muttered as she let out a low sigh of relief. She had been anxiously waiting for him to wake up and she had actually taken to slapping his cheek until he opened his eyes because she had gotten that worried that he wasn't going to wake up at all.

"Wha…" He blinked and turned his head toward her, not realizing just how fucking horrible he looked. If Mindy could see him right now she would have burst into tears on sight. He just looked so pathetic, laying there in that filthy alley and not realizing how far he was falling and how much he was degrading himself. "No…God don't like me. He's dead."

"Yeah well if we don't get the hell out of here, we could be joining him." Taylor grabbed him by the arm and did her best to pull him up to his feet. It wasn't an easy task by any means. He was dead weight and refused to help her out at all. "Come on rich boy," she urged. "It's time to go home."

"No," he mumbled. "Here is good."

"No it's not," she insisted. "Here is bad. It smells like shit and it's not safe for pretty boys like you. Now get up." She groaned when he still refused to comply. "Cooper please, let me help you."

He blinked, a stupid expression coming over his face. "You said my name," he said slowly.

"I did." She tried one more time to get him up and this time she finally managed to succeed. "Now come on and walk for me."

He let out something that sounded like a cross between a grunt and a whine. "I need more," he mumbled. He tried to get away from her and she fought to keep a hold of him. "I need more…" He managed to wrench himself out of her grasp and promptly fell face first on the ground.

"Jesus rich boy!" Taylor knelt down and quickly pulled him back up so she could examine the damage he had just inflicted on himself. "Oh fuck." There was a nice big bloody scrape right in the middle of his face that he was going to be feeling for quite awhile.

"I gotta find that guy," Cooper said, totally lost in his own little world. "I don't remember his face. Do you remember his face? Because I don't remember it.."

"I don't know who you're talking about," Taylor said with a shake of her head. "And I don't care." She got him back up and began dragging him along as best as she could. "Just fuck him, okay?"

"I already did," Cooper confessed. "It was bad. I didn't even cum. But it's okay because I flew afterwards. I flew so high that I was like…in the stars or some shit."

Taylor shook her head, not even addressing that confession. He was too fucked up to even really give a shit what anyone else had to say so there was no point in wasting her breath. "Hey hey hey!" she said, reaching over and slapping him across the face when she caught him trying to pass out. "Stop that. You're not doing that on me rich boy. You go out now you might not wake back up."

"What do you care?" he grumbled. "I'd be better dead."

"No you wouldn't, so don't argue with me, okay?"

He mumbled something completely incoherent and she decided to just go ahead and take that as a yes. It wasn't like he was in any real shape to object anyway.

…

James didn't know how he managed to get the kids in a somewhat calm state again when he was such a mess himself. The only explanation that could be possible was that his paternal instinct was so natural at this point that he could do his duty on autopilot without much problems. Of course they knew he was a mess; he could see it in their eyes. But he did he best to convince them that he was okay and everything was going to be fine. Kelly did her best to help with that and Tiffany…well he didn't know where the hell she ran off to. Nor did he exactly care at the moment. He just didn't bother to ask where she was while he put a movie in for the kids and then made up some phony bathroom excuse so he could escape to his office for a bit.

He felt…well horrible would have been too nice of a way to describe it. All he had been trying to do was help. That was all. He hadn't been trying to hurt her. He had just wanted to protect her. He fucking loved her beyond what words could describe. He didn't even want to breathe unless she was by his side. He had told her that many times and tried to show her in even more ways. He wanted to go to her now and beg for her forgiveness because he couldn't live with himself if she was mad at him. But the fear of rejection kept him at bay. He couldn't bear to hear any of the things she had said again. Even if they hadn't been meant he couldn't bear to hear them. He lived to please her, to protect her-fuck, he lived FOR her. The thought that he had upset her at all tormented him in ways that nobody else would be able to understand.

Filled with anger towards himself, he began punching the wall over and over again as hard as he could. Over and over and over…he didn't stop until his hand got stuck deep inside the wall, caught on whatever the fuck was in there. Biting down on his lower lips so hard that he drew blood, he twisted his fist to the left and yanked back, freeing his now bloody and injured hand. Clutching it close to his chest, he sat down on the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest and let out a choked sob. He wondered if she knew that she could do this to him. If she knew how much his heart screamed for her. He knew that she didn't feel good enough for him and it drove him crazy. He was the one who wasn't good for her. He really wasn't. But he wanted her and he lived and breathed for her and couldn't even begin to imagine living without her ever again.

"Daddy!" Seconds later Amber was on him again, hugging him for dear life and bursting into tears at the sight of him. He tried to speak to tell her he was fine and he wasn't crying, that it was just bad allergies and the holes in the wall were just his attempts at redecorating the room. None of that came out though. He had officially forgotten how to use his own voice. Instead he just sat there and clung to Amber for dear life as she rocked him back and forth and cried right alongside him.

…

When Connor woke up his body was stiff, his shoulder was in a tremendous amount of pain and his stomach felt like it was a giant thing of knots. He just laid in his spot for a little while longer, too scared to move because there could be more bad people with guns. But eventually he realized he couldn't just sit there. It stunk and was making him sick and what if the bad people found him if he kept sitting where he was? With that in mind he forced himself up to his feet, clutching his injured shoulder as he went. The first few blocks he walked through were empty, making him feel smaller and more alone than he ever had in his life. But then, when he was just about to go hide again so he could sob himself into a passed out state again, he saw a cop car parked on the side of the road.

Now James had always taught him to stay away from cops because they didn't like killers. He wasn't supposed to talk to them or be around them unless he absolutely had to. If they knew what he and the rest of his family did they would all be going away forever and ever. And he still hadn't forgiven the cops for arresting him back in California for "assaulting" Mark. But at this point, he was absolutely desperate. He would rather be in jail for the rest of his life than be out in this place for forever and ever.

Letting out a shaky breath he started walking towards the car as fast as he could. He was too tired and hurt to run anymore. But how he wanted to, because he was terrified of the car driving away and leaving him all alone. Fortunately, his luck was finally starting to change. The cop on the driver's side got out of the vehicle and saw him coming, saying something and heading his way. Connor didn't hear a word of it though. He was so woozy from blood loss that he collapsed halfway there, whimpering and crying as he once again passed out.


	50. Chapter 50

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: I know. I just feel bad for the whole lot of them really. Nobody's having an easy time right now

…

"I'm sorry Daddy…!" Amber wept while pulling him closer and kissing his hair as hard as she could on the floor in his office, "I'm so sorry I love you I love you!"

His head shook and he coughed from his spot next to her before burying his nose in her hair and staring at the hole he made in the wall. That hole right there was the direct equivalent of what happened to his heart and he wanted it to stop. He wanted her to come in and tell him how much she loved him and she didn't mean what she said, but his gut told him that wouldn't happen. Unfortunately his mind was convinced that Mindy hated him and she wanted him to go away so she could be happy and he didn't fucking want to. As far as his heart went it only beat for her, he didn't even want to live knowing she hated him. Even though he never believed he was perfect Jamie he wanted to hear her say it. He wanted her to tell him what a perfect darling Jamie he was because she loved him more than anybody ever.

Both hands of his rattled, especially the bleeding one and Amber was crying twice as hard at the state of his hand and was kissing the fingers as hard as she could.

"Daddy, I love you, I love you!" she nodded at him and grabbed his tear-drenched face, "Don't cry Daddy, PLEASE don't cry we love you Mommy loves you everybody loves you"

His head shook drearily and he took a sharp breath before croaking faintly, "Not anymore…"

"YES, Daddy!" Amber pleaded desperately, "She DOES she DOES, Daddy more than anyone! Mommy loves you more than ME, Mommy loves you more than Cooper and Lizzie Bear, Mommy loves you more than ANYONE!"

"No" he whimpered and shook his head drearily, "She hates me she fucking hates me and I love her, Pumpkin," he held a hand over his mouth and cried into it, "I love her so FUCKING much I don't want her to hate me I don't want her to hate me I want Mommy to love me, that's all I want Pumpkin. I…"

Blood dripped onto his bloodied hand and that immediately drew his eyes up and made Amber scream.

"BABY DOLL!"

Both her little arms were smeared in blood and completely saturated…which was strange until he realized what she had done. She'd sliced up her wrists and poured nail polish remover over the wounds to make them sting, both arms were rattling from stinging so badly but she didn't care. Mindy's face was drenched in tears and James's really wasn't much dryer.

"MOMMY!" Amber shrieked and stumbled to her feet, shaking her head and ripping the nail polish remover out of Mindy's arms, "What did you DO, Mommy? What'd you do what'd you do" she broke into a low sob, "No Mommy no…!"

Mindy's eyes didn't move from James and she just stood there with a completely deranged look on her face while nodding quickly, "I got punished see, Jamie?" she nodded with a freaky smile and waited for him to yelp and throw his arms around her, "I maded you hurt so I maded me hurt MORE" she nodded at him and started petting his face, unaware that blood was on her palms so it was painting his beautiful skin a new color, "I am bleeding, Jamie"

"AUNT TARYN! AUNT BARBIE HELP!" Amber screamed and bolted out of the room a shaking mess, Mindy immediately locking the door to James's office before throwing herself on top of him as he huddled in the corner and kissing him senseless, bawling her eyes out and holding him close.

"I'm SORRY JAMIE!" she shrieked while grabbing his face and giving him frantic kisses, trying to grab for his bleeding hand and clutch it to herself, "I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU! I DON'T HATE YOU I NEVER HATED YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYONE! MORE THAN ANYONE JAMIE I LOVE YOU!"

"NO don't be sorry, Baby Doll!" he screamed at her and flipped her arms so he could see better, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"I love you" she nodded with that crazed look in her eyes she often got during an episode, "I had to pay"

"NO!" he kissed the bloodied wrists and kissed her lips as hard as he could, but she broke into a sound which was equivalent to a dying animal before straddling in his lap and kissing him for all he was worth and rubbing noses with him.

"I LOVE YOU, JAMIE DARLING I LOVE YOU!" frantically her head shook and they kissed more, "I didn't mean to hurt you, I…" in a panic her hands brushed over his face and she kept kissing his lips because they were bleeding, "I didn't mean it never ever Jamie I never meant it I'll cut my tongue out for you, Jamie I will! I will bite it off now and-"

"NO! DON'T do that please no its OKAY Baby Doll I'm not angry sssssshhh no no no" he shook his head and pet her face quickly, "No no no I was never angry I love you, I could never be angry with you"

"You're BLEEDING!" she shrieked and shook her head in a panic, kissing the last remnants of blood off him and shoving her tongue into his willing mouth, squeezing the bleeding hand while pumping her hips against his into the wall.

"Please" only for a fleeting moment he broke the kiss and knocked their foreheads together, "I love you, Baby Doll, I fucking love you don't hurt yourself PLEASE don't hurt yourself ever again like this…" he shook his head and kissed her arms despite the taste of nail polish remover, "I never want you to hurt yourself don't say sorry to me I don't want it I want YOU, Baby Doll please…!"

"I love you, Jamie" she nodded as a choke and snuggled as hard against him as she could, "my darling perfect Jamie I love you, I do! I never meant what I said you are so perfect I was MEAN I was"

"No you weren't" he shook his head kindly and began to suck on her throat frantically, "You're not mean at all, darling there isn't an evil bone in your body and I LOVE you and I'm sorry"

"STOP being sorry" she shrieked and dug a hand in his scalp, pinning him for a change and covering his mouth with hers once again because she loved him so deeply, "I LOVE YOU and I was MEAN Jamie darling you NEVER have to be sorry!"

"LET me be sorry!" he growled at her when she shook her head and just kept kissing him.

"Never ever ever I LOVE you Jamie more than anybody ever…" her voice dropped to the gentlest coo and she stroked his face with her fingers while continuing to rub herself against his groin, "You are so perfect and beautiful and I love you forever and ever no matter what…" she sniffled and nodded, unaware of him lifting one of her bleeding wrists to kiss it and burying his face in her neck, just sitting there listening to her because he loved her so fucking much and wanted to listen and believe every word she said. "You're so special, Jamie…" she continued to coo into his ear and grind against him as hard as she could…and he weakly let her do it because he adored her. His hand was bleeding and stinging like hell, but Baby Doll was kissing it and making everything better. She was kissing him all over and making everything better just like she always did, "My perfect Jamie I love you…" she whispered and nodded, "I will always always love you…"

He choked a moment and snuggled hard against her skin, "Why would you hurt yourself for me, Baby Doll?" he shook his head and whimpered, "I'm not worth it"

"YES YOU ARE!" she shrieked and slapped him across the face, "STOP IT! I love you I never mean it if I say I hate you ever you KNOW I love you Jamie so fucking much"

"Why are you dying on me when I love you?" he shook his head when she chimed right in and slowly unbuttoned his jeans.

"I just want YOU, darling I wanna be with YOU forever and ever" she nodded with a sniffle and kissed his throat, "Everybody else can die just be happy, Jamie be happy for me"

"I AM" he nodded eagerly and snuggled her close, "please don't ever hate me, I can't breathe I can't think…" he panicked and yelled through tears at her, "I can't fucking THINK Baby Doll LOOK at what you do to me! YOU! Nobody else but YOU Baby, you're MINE and I want you to be happy my sweet little Baby Doll…"

"Jamie…" she breathed into his neck and stroked his cock gently in one hand for a minute before lowering herself and gently driving him into the wall from their seated position, "I love you, darling…"

He coughed and nodded, letting her rhythmic movements take him away and actually bring him to climax because he loved her so much.

"See, darling?" she panted and continued petting his face and hair as she drove him home, "See how much I love you?"

He nodded drearily for a moment before coughing and kissing her neck, moving the lengthy raven hair out of the way before kissing her gently, "Do you see?" He knew he puzzled her but he continued, "Do you see…" he sniffled and nuzzled her while digging a hand into her hair, "how much I love you? What you mean to me? Why I can't stand to have you away from me even for a millisecond?"

She sniffled and nodded.

"I love you" he frowned and rubbed noses with her, "Please don't ever be mad at me I can't take it"

She kissed him deeper and refused to allow him to pull out of her warmth even after they both came, "Never ever."

"You promise?" he choked and she nodded.

"I swear" she clunked their foreheads and glided her tongue into his mouth so they could make out as long as they could get away with it. Every touch of his tongue to hers made her want more of him, and before she knew it the tingle was back and she refused to break the making out while humping him a second time, ensuring he came and he knew how much it was enjoyed. "I love you, Jamie…" she continued the baby coo and rubbed noses with him, "I love you forever and ever and ever and you are the best husband and I never want you to go away from me"

"And I won't" he shook his head and placed a hand over her chest, "I'll never leave you, I swear it, Baby Doll on my life I'll"

"Ssssshh" she shook her head and placed her lips over his, "I know."

"How can I make it up to you, sweetheart?" he panicked and kissed her harder, "PLEASE let me make it up to you, I want to, darling!"

"You tell me you will love me forever and ever and that you will never be sorry for anything."

"I love you forever and ever and ever and I'm sorry for everything"

With a heavy sigh she just kissed him again and squeezed his hand in hers. A knock on the door caught their attention and they gasped a moment and panted against the other's body.

"What?" James shouted a bit coldly, too nestled and tied up in his Baby Doll to really think of anything else, "I'm a little BUSY at the moment"

"Yeah, well you might want to expedite whatever it is you think is so important because your cell just got a call from the hospital. Connor's been shot!" Tiffany's voice shouted from the other side, making the pair exchange glances and move off the other quickly.

…

James, Mindy, Kelly, Tiffany, and the kids all stood around Connor's hospital bed worriedly. James had Mindy's hand clenched tightly in his while Mindy held a pretty fussy Elizabeth.

"Oh Connor…" Mindy frowned as Tryg hopped up on his bed and she panicked, "Tryggy baby be CAREFUL with hi-"

"It's okay" Connor squeaked, pulling Tryg over for a hug as James ran a hand over his face, wanting to shout and scream at him but didn't have the heart at the moment. Connor was traumatized and Connor was hurt, there really wasn't all that much to be done.

Elizabeth was having none of it though, the baby was fussing like crazy and wouldn't calm despite both her parents' efforts to make it stop.

"Sssshh Lizzie Bear…" Mindy knew Connor was in no mood to hear the infant, and Connor's face was letting that be known.

"Are you OKAY?" Tryg frowned and marveled that Connor actually had a bandage over his shoulder, "WOW! You got stabbed AND shot! That's so COOL!"

If it were coming from anyone other than Tryg, Connor would have killed them.

"You're a legend!" he high-fived his older brother and hugged him tight, Tiffany having no choice but to beam until Elizabeth's wails caught her attention.

"Sssssh" Mindy tried again but the baby wouldn't stop, and she grimaced at the look on Connor's face and felt like she had no choice, kissing James's bandaged fingers and hugging him with one arm, "I am sorry, Jamie darling, but she is crying a lot"

"It's not your fault, stop that" he shook his head and tried kissing the baby to make her stop, but he wouldn't.

"Fail" was all that came from Connor's mouth, letting his parents know exactly what he thought of that.

"I'ma leave for a bit with her, darling" Mindy nodded and snuggled her husband close for a second before they kissed again and he got worried.

"Where are you going all by yourself?"

"Not far" she shrugged and pointed to the baby, "Maybe she wants pudding or somethin'…that oughta make her happy."

"Alright…" he pulled his credit card out and handed it to her, stroking her fingers with his as she took the card from him and they kissed deeply, not caring about the faces Connor and Tiffany made, "I love you"

She licked her lips and nodded to that, "I love you more" she placed the card in her bra before rubbing noses with him and nipping his lower lip, "You want anything, darling?"

"I'll call you if I do" he nodded before looking to the room, "Would any of you like Mommy to go get you anything to eat?"

"You said we were going out LATER?" Thorn spoke up while clutching Oxa close, "To DENNY'S like you PROMISED"

"Yes, yes, we are" he nodded before lifting her and giving her a big kiss, "I just meant as a snack, sweetheart"

"Meh" she shrugged, "Save it for real food."

"Okie dokie" Mindy sighed and continued bouncing Elizabeth while leaving, when James immediately ran out into the hallway after her.

"Baby Doll!"

She turned and was backed into the wall he kissed her so roughly.

"Promise me you'll eat something, alright?" his fingers stroked her collarbone and he frowned, "I want you back"

"I LOVE you" she snuggled against him and let him kiss Elizabeth senseless before reluctantly leaving him with the baby to go to the hospital cafeteria.

…

Security barriers had been set up to keep all away from Mindy Lawson and her infant daughter as they perused through the cafeteria looking for something tasty since both women loved food and Lizzie Bear seemed interested in a couple of the items on display.

"Hmmm…" Mindy bounced the baby up and down while kissing her cheek rapidly, "Do you want YOGURT with fruit in it…?" she pouted her lips and continued browsing, "Or PUDDING? Or…" she was going off Lizzie Bear's reactions, "or JELLO? Do you want JELLO, Lizzie Bear? Like how Mommy mushes it for you?"

Elizabeth squealed and pointed to a cup of jello with whipped cream on top and a cherry, which made Mindy smile and she nodded.

"What color would my Lizzie Bear like?" she asked with a bump of the hip, and Elizabeth reached for the red. Immediately Mindy's hand went over her mouth and she cried into her hand for a second before nodding and getting the red for her, "Red, babyboo?" she asked in a cutesy voice, "Red? Red like Daddy likes?"

"Red!" Elizabeth pointed with her middle finger instead of her index finger, and Mindy bit it quickly because it was too cute to scold her.

"YES it is!" she giggled while holding her tight and kissing her blonde hair while grabbing two red jellos piled with heart-attack shit, "Mommy LOVES smart girls like my Lizzie Bear, yes I do! You know who else likes red?" she snuggled Elizabeth and grabbed both of them to pay, "DADDY likes red, yes he does! It's his FAVORITE!"

After paying for it and sitting at an isolated table, Mindy handed Lizzie Bear the spoon to bang a bit before pulling out her phone, snapping a picture of Elizabeth eating the red jello, and sent it to James with a million hearts attached to it.

"Okay Lizzie Bear, I am sorry…" she giggled before spooning some and getting ready to hand-feed her, "Ready?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth and Mindy did as well.

"OM!" Mindy said in a deep chuckle as Elizabeth ate her jello like a champ and continued squealing afterwards, which made Mindy grin and kiss her lovingly before digging into her own jello and letting Elizabeth stab the remaining parts of her own meal with a spoon. "Daddy will take you hunting with him, Mommy promises."

…

Deciding to continue the Mommy-baby bonding Mindy walked Elizabeth into the gift shop and smiled warmly while motioning around them.

"Take your pick, Lizzie Bear" she whispered into the baby's ear and nodded against her skin, "Anything you want Mommy will buy for you."

Knowing that it was what babies liked, Mindy decided to lead Elizabeth towards the stuffed animals since she had a million anyway, but none that she was utterly attached to like a baby blanket. Her baby blanket was Daddy and he was more than glad to keep her glued to his side, but Mindy just wanted her to buy something anyway because she loved her so much.

"Hmmm…" Mindy carefully studied each animal and brightened as they walked by them, "do we want a PUPPY? Or a KITTY? Or a…?"

Elizabeth eyed them all carefully when the gates to the heavens opened up and there it was. A cream-colored lamb with the softest, cuddliest fur and a cream ribbon tied around its neck. It sat upright with majorly soft and furry hooves, a furry face, gigantic black eyes, and pink stitching in the nose and mouth, which was in a smiley position. Mindy fake-gasped and pulled the lamb right off the shelf; already making Elizabeth reach out and try to grab it, "Is THIS what Lizzie Bear wants? She wants a lamb?"

Elizabeth snagged it from her and hugged it close, biting its face already as Mindy chuckled and led her towards the register to pay for it happily.

…

"What are we going to name him, Lizzie Bear?" Mindy asked gently as they made their way back towards Connor's room, Elizabeth hugging the lamb which was almost bigger than her with both arms as James immediately rushed out of the room to sweep his wife and daughter into his arms and swing her in the air for a moment.

"And how are we, ladies?" he asked them both fondly when Elizabeth grinned and held up her sheep happily in his face, and he grinned widely, "Ohh? And who is THIS?"

"She's waiting for YOU to name him" Mindy snuggled against his neck and kissed the scar, "We've been talkin' about it the whole way up"

"Me?" his eyes widened and Mindy kissed his nose, "She wants me to name her lamb?"

"YES!" Mindy giggled while nipping his ear, "Name him."

"Hmm…" he pouted his lips at the lamb which made Elizabeth giggle loudly and hug the lamb close to her chest, "Are you SURE you want Daddy to name him, Lizzie Bear?"

"DA DA!" Elizabeth yelled impatiently and he chuckled before kissing Mindy quickly and drumming up what he thought was the perfect name considering Elizabeth's infant vocabulary.

"How about…" he grinned and started kissing both the baby and the lamb, "we call him LAMMY? Do you like Lammy, Lizzie Bear?"

"LAMMY!" Elizabeth shouted back at him before proceeding to clutch the animal close, "Lammy!"

"I think she likes the Lammy" Mindy nodded fondly before wrapping her arm around James's neck and digging a hand in his scalp, "My Jamie is so SMART he can name anything!"

"Lammy…" James smiled thinly at Elizabeth holding onto it for dear life, "I thought I was her best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend?"

"You are" he nodded and cuddled her close, kissing her sweetly and nuzzling their baby focused on Lammy, "but I want to be HER best friend too"

"And you are" Mindy nodded while rubbing her nose against his and giving him a slow sensuous kiss, "after Lammy."


	51. Chapter 51

**Esha Napoleon:** Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Yes she is. It's really hard to believe she's six sometimes. She's just way beyond her years.

…

"So what was it like to get shot?" Tryg asked, distracting Connor from rolling his eyes as James and Mindy returned to the room with Elizabeth. He was blatantly staring at Connor's bandaged shoulder and looking like he wanted to rip it off so he could see the wound in all its glory. "Did it hurt?"

"That's a stupid question Tryggy," Thorn said with a roll of her eyes. "Of course it hurt! Don't you know anything?"

"Shut up," Tryg said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Hey hey, none of that now," James said gently. "Okay?"

"Okay Daddy," Tryg said with a sigh. He looked back at Connor with an impatient expression on his face. "Come on Connor, tell me about it! Is the bullet still in there? Are you going to have a gigantic scar? What kind of gun was it?"

"Tarzan maybe we should ease up on the questions for a bit," James said with a shake of his head. He could see that Connor really didn't want to talk about his whole ordeal at all.

"But Daddy I'm just asking!" Tryg said with a pout.

"It was a bad gun," Connor said, shuddering as he remembered what it was like to feel the bullet rip through him. "A bad bad gun shot by bad bad men."

"Did you shoot them back?" Tryg asked eagerly. "I would have shot them back. Or blown them up with boom booms."

"They're dead," Connor said, not really wanting to get into much more detail than that. He didn't want to think about this whole experience ever again if he could help it. He had gotten scared out of his mind so he just wanted to forget it ever happened if he could.

"Good," James said, holding on to Elizabeth with one arm and reaching out with his other hand to smooth down Connor's hair. "What were you doing out there though?" That was the question that was plaguing him and it wouldn't stop until he found out. If the guys who attacked his son were dead then fine; he wanted to kill them himself but he would live with knowing Connor got them. But he still wanted to know why Connor was out running around in one of the many parts of the cities that he knew he wasn't supposed to be in.

Connor suddenly got all shifty eye and deliberately decided to not answer that question. "How are Snoopy and Spike doing?" he asked Tryg.

"They're good," Tryg answered. "They want to see you. I think they missed you lots and lots."

"Well I missed them lots and lots too."

"Connor," James prodded gently, not really willing to be ignored at the moment. "Can you answer me?"

"…No…" Connor replied. He knew James probably wouldn't like that but he didn't care. He didn't want to talk about his experience at all and that was that.

"Were you running away again?" Tiffany asked, getting slightly stern to help coax an answer out of him. "Because you promised me you wouldn't do that."

"I wasn't running away," Connor told her. "I really wasn't."

"Then what were you trying to do honey?" She sighed when he still tried to refuse to answer. "Connor please, just tell us. You won't get in trouble, I promise."

Connor gulped nervously and eyed James and Mindy very carefully before reluctantly deciding to answer. He knew they would never leave him alone if he didn't give in and talk. "…I was on a rescue mission."

Mindy frowned while Tiffany and James exchanged knowing looks. "A rescue mission?"

Connor nodded slowly. "For Coopy."

"Connor!" James groaned.

"What?" Connor said defensively, his lower lip already quivering uncontrollably. This was why he hadn't wanted to say anything about what he was trying to do. Now he was going to be in big big trouble when he hadn't done anything bad.

James almost said something but quickly stopped himself when he reminded himself that now was not the time to get into the whole Cooper thing with Connor. Connor didn't know any better when it came to Cooper. He really didn't. James wished he did but the situation was what it was and he wasn't about to dare start a fight now, especially when he and Connor seemed to finally be getting back on better terms.

"Baby you shouldn't have gone alone," Mindy said gently, speaking up before James could form a non-angry, non fight causing response.

"Well who was I supposed to take?" Connor asked, getting defensive because he still thought he was going to be in major major trouble (and really, the only thing truly saving him was the trauma he had already suffered. That had been punishment enough). "Tryggy's too little, Tiffany and Daddy hate Cooper and I saw the video where you beat up that guy for asking about Coopy and drugs. If I would have said we had to find Coopy because that guy was probably right you would have gotten really mad."

Mindy shook her head. "Those people lie-"

"But Coopy is stupid when he's all alone," Connor said, shaking his head vehemently. "Coopy's done that bad stuff before and he could be doing it again and nobody can stop him!"

"Well he brought that upon himself," Amber said, speaking up and earning herself a glare from Connor for her words. "It's his fault he got kicked out of the family-"

"Amber sweetheart, maybe now isn't the best time," Kelly said gently, wincing at the look on Connor's face.

"Well it's true," Amber said, not about to be intimidated by Connor's glare. "He did it to himself. If he had kept his hands off Mommy then none of this would be happening."

Connor went to say something nasty but James put his hand on his chest and shook his head. "Connor I know you're worried…and I know you still love him for whatever reason…but you promise me right now that you will never-and I mean EVER-put yourself in that kind of danger again."

Connor pouted his lips and then looked at Tryg, who nodded his head. He pouted even more and looked at Tiffany, who motioned for Connor to give James the answer he wanted to hear. It wasn't that Connor didn't want to make that promise. He wanted to go home and never leave again he was so messed up from his rescue mission. But he just didn't know if he could keep it and he didn't want to get in trouble for it. Ultimately though, the pressure of everyone just looking at him got to his head and he let out a sigh and nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. "I promise."

"Good." James leaned over and kissed the side of Connor's head, which made Elizabeth frown and pout in a manner that was most like him. "Da!" she said impatiently, squirming around in his grasp until he looked down at her and smiled.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you Lizzie Bear." He gave her a kiss on her forehead. "See?"

"Lammy!" she exclaimed, holding up her newest best friend and he promptly gave Lammy a kiss too.

"Ewww its got baby germs all over it Daddy," Connor said with a wrinkled nose.

"There are a lot of germs in spit," Scarlett said, nodding along wisely.

"Aw, not in my Lizzie Bear's spit," James said, kissing Lammy again to prove his point and making the twins gag and Mindy giggle loudly.

Connor snorted and rolled his eyes. "Daddy is a weirdo for girls," he told Tryg, not bothering to keep his voice down at all.

"Hey," James said, pouting a little bit at that. "I am not."

"Yes you are Daddy," Tryg said, giggling at the look on James's face. "But it's okay, we love you anyway." He turned back to Connor and grinned. "We could make you an action star now you know. You've been shot, you've been stabbed and you're still alive. You're indestructible!"

"I don't feel very indestructible," Connor muttered, wincing as he glanced down at his shoulder. "I don't want to be an action star. It's too painful."

"Aw man," Tryg pouted. He sighed and then came up with a plan B. "Well we'll have to go with the making Snoopy a superhero for a movie then," he decided. "We can make him the greatest doggy superhero of all time and Spike can be his sidekick. And Mommy can sing for our movie and Daddy can play the bad guy because he's a giant and the girls could be his minions and-" He kept going on and on and Connor looked at the highly amused James and Mindy before nodding along. "Okay Tryggy, whatever you say." There was no point in trying to object to Tryg when he was on a roll. If he said Snoopy was going to be the greatest doggy superhero of all time, then that was it. The case was closed.

…

_Sheer panic was going through Cooper's brain as he tried to fight his way out of the water he was trapped under. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. All he knew was that he was fighting with everything he had in him to get up to the surface so he could breathe again. But all his efforts seemed to be in vain. No matter how hard he fought, there was no escape. He couldn't reach the surface and his lungs were burning more and more with each passing second. He was going to die if he didn't get out, forever trapped in a cold watery tomb._

_Something wrapped itself around his ankle, pulling him down even further into the abyss. He started kicking with his free foot, ready to scream even though it would mean that he would be finished. But then suddenly a small hand grabbed his and pulled him up out of the water and setting him on dry land. He coughed and sputtered, nearly throwing up he was gagging so hard. "Wha…" he gasped for breath and looked around, needing to blink several times before all the water left his vision and he was able to see that it was Mindy who had saved him. "Momma!" he exclaimed, reaching out for her because he needed her so bad._

_She smiled at him before turning around and running away, making him shake his head and force himself back up to his feet. "Mom!" he yelled, taking off after her even though his lungs were still burning and he didn't have enough oxygen in his system to be chasing anyone. "Mom!"_

_She didn't answer him. He couldn't even see her anymore but that didn't stop him from running into the woods in pursuit of her. The branches were so thick that they kept hitting his face and keeping him from being able to see where he was going but he kept running anyway, only stopping when his foot got caught in something and he went crashing to the ground._

"_Fuck!" he yelled, his eyes watering from the pain that he was now in. He had twisted his ankle on the way down and it hurt so bad that he couldn't even move it. "Fuck fuck fuck!" He gingerly pulled his pant leg up and winced as he saw that it was already turning completely purple and swelling up. _

"_Now that looks nasty. I think that will have to come off."_

_Cooper's heart nearly stopped beating at the sound of that voice. "Go away!" he shouted as Caroline stepped out of the shadows. "Get away from me!"_

"_Why?" Caroline asked, advancing even closer as Cooper tried to scramble backwards. "Give me one good reason-"_

"_You ruined everything!" Cooper screamed, knowing he had to get the fuck away from her before she was on him completely. It was all her fucking fault. When she had come crashing into their lives his feelings for Mindy had woken up and his life hadn't been the same since. He wasn't supposed to feel this shit for girls. He was gay. He had always been and he felt like he still was. But when it came to her, everything he had thought he knew without a shadow of doubt went out of whack._

"_I ruined everything?" Caroline said, smirking evilly at him. "No no no, you hapless little retard. YOU ruined it all. That's what you do. As soon as your shit gets good, you fuck it up in some way. That's what you fucking do. You're a pathetic little bitch that always needs attention-"_

"_Shut up," he growled, trying to sound menacing but all he did was make her laugh._

"_You're fucking pathetic. You're worse than James and I thought I would never say that about anyone." She deliberately stepped on his injured ankle, making him scream loudly in pain. "Speaking of…" She reached down and picked him up by the throat, slamming him up against the nearest tree before transforming into James right before his eyes._

"_You didn't think you could run forever now did you?" James asked, laughing as Cooper whimpered and tried to slip out of his grasp. "I'm always going to find you Cooper. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide-I will find you and I will get you. You won't ever fucking get away with betraying me."_

_Cooper tried to tell James he hadn't meant it but it did no good. James squeezed his neck so tight he couldn't breathe and then changed into Jeff, who looked at him in complete disgust._

"_You love you so much that you're still obsessing over her?" he asked, getting right in Cooper's face and making him feel like he was the tiniest person ever. "Did you even care about me at all? Or did you use me from the start just because you couldn't have her?"_

_Cooper didn't even get a chance to answer. Jeff was changing right before his eyes and he turned into Joie, who looked exactly the way he did the night he was murdered. His face was beaten into a broken and bloody pulp, one of his eyeballs was dangling loosely out of his socket, several of his teeth were missing and his clothes were ripped to shreds, revealing a mass amount of bruising and a bone that was poking out from his rib cage. _

"_Oh God…" Cooper groaned, trying to look away but he couldn't. "Joie please.."_

_Joie tilted his head to the side and then sighed sadly. "You loved me once…but you didn't love me enough did you? You didn't love me enough to save me."_

"_No!" Cooper exclaimed, his heart shattering to even hear Joie say that. "No no no, you know that's not true. Joie please-"_

"_You let me die," Joie said, going on like he hadn't heard a word Cooper had just said. "And then I came back and you let me go away again. You let me go…you can't really love someone if you let them go. You can't love anyone Cooper…now nobody cares about you because you're not worth it. Poor poor Cooper…"_

"_Joie please," Cooper begged, practically in tears at this point. "Joie please I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry…"_

_Joie just stared at him with his one good eye at the moment before disappearing yet again right before his eyes, making him shake his head in horror. "Joie? Joie don't! Come black, please come back! JOIE!"_

It was at that point Cooper rolled off to the bed and on to the floor, screaming his dead lover's name and about giving Taylor a heart attack on the spot.


	52. Chapter 52

**firewing pegasus: **What Amber said wasn't wrong. Was the best timing or the right person to say it to? Maybe not but what she said was right. Cooper was told to keep his hands off of Mindy and he didn't listen and so yeah…considering what he did he's lucky he's even still alive. And Connor knows damn well better than to hurt a kid. James drilled that lesson into his head long ago and Mindy would damn well skin him alive in a heartbeat over it. You do not fuck with Mindy's children. Ever. **Esha Napoleon**: Dumb thing *kicks it* That should teach it. And if it don't, I'll send James over to teach it a lesson lol **NeroAnne**: I agree, the kiddies are just too adorable. I just want to grab all of them and squeeze them. You're right, Cooper does-now if only he'll stop wallowing in his own helplessness something can maybe get done to get through to him.

…

"COOPER! Cooper, Cooper, oh my god Cooper!" Taylor immediately dived over the bed and collapsed to the floor, taking deep breaths and hyperventilating at how sudden that twist out of bed was. They had been sleeping so peacefully (or so it seemed) when BAM! Down goes rich boy. "COOPER!"

He just kept panting and completely ignored how the bony arms wrapped around him and tried to hold him in place.

"PLEASE Cooper, stop! Cooper stop! What's the matter, honey what happened?" her voice cracked from being so nervous though he didn't pick it up, he just kept shaking like a maraca until her lips pressed to his temple and she gently shushed him, "Sssssh…" trying her best to sound maternal and calm him (since that's what he seemed to need), Taylor gently rubbed his back and rocked him a bit, "okay…it's okay…you're okay…" her long fingers combed through his hair and she nodded, "everything is going to be okay, it was just a dream, you'll be okay."

"No!" he yelped and shook his head, reaching up to grab the arms which were wrapped around him and shaking his head, "No, no, no!"

"No no what, hun?" she frowned and shook her head; trying to figure this guy out was a complete nightmare, "No no what? What happened?"

Cooper coughed and shook his head, saying nothing and sniffling before running a hand through his hair and realizing that the entire thing had all been a dream. No Mindy was there to pull him out of that water, no Caroline was chasing him, no James was choking him, no Jeff glaring in disappointment, and no dead Joie to torment his soul even more than it already was. Here he was now alone with no one from his past to love and care for him because he didn't deserve it. He deserved to die so that was exactly what he came out here to do. Getting hooked on the crack or whatever the hell it was (he wasn't even sure anymore) was merely a bonus to his goal of getting closer and closer to finally fulfilling everyone's best wishes and dying the fuck off. No one cared, no one wanted him, and he wouldn't rest because he knew this was the end of the line. He raped his stepmother, his best friend, his unofficial twin, his better half. He raped the only person alive who understood him because of love. He did all this for love and that was what killed him the most.

_The words have been drained from this pencil,_

_Sweet words that I want to give I can't sleep;_

_ I need to tell you_

_Goodnight._

He kept repeating the words of the song which Mindy wrote specifically for James and didn't want released, yet of course the internet got their hands on it due to the tricky recording studio and it leaked all over the fucking world.

_When we're together I feel perfect,_

_When I'm pulled away from you, _

_I fall apart_

And he did fall the fuck apart without her. Those words were meant for James and no one, not even Cooper, was ever supposed to hear them but of course the internet was such a wonderful invention. But that was the whole point, shit happens, but he never meant to hurt her.

_All you say is sacred to me,_

_Your eyes are so blue, _

_I can't look away,_

_As we lay in the stillness, you whisper to me:_

He loved her, he wanted to be closer to her, he wanted her to love him more than anybody else just like she always demonstrated with James. He was so fucking jealous of James he wanted to trade places or even possibly be him, but the Lawson patriarch put him in his place and he had no chance. There was no way he'd be able to do anything against James because of his father's pure size and strength, and not he was heavily paying for it. He thought he could take James by the horns and he was wrong, so incredibly wrong. He messed with the wrong stallion and now he was ousted and exiled completely from the family he knew and loved so much.

_Baby,_ _marry me, promise you'll stay with me_

_Oh you don't have to ask me,_

Pulling his knees up to his chest he shivered and started crying, running his hands through his hair and feeling like such a fucking wreck. Why he couldn't die already was beyond him. This was the final step he was finished. Obviously no one was coming to save him and in all honesty he didn't deserve to be saved. Caroline came into that dream for a reason as did Joie. They came to take him away to hell, and Mindy ran away because James was going to be the one to send him to hell and there was nothing that could be done about it. She wouldn't stop him and no one would stop it, no one should stop it.

_You know you're all that I live for,_

_you know I'd die just to hold you, stay with you,_

_Some how I'll show you, that you are my night sky_

"Cooper…" speaking up through clenched teeth, Taylor exhaled and licked her thin lips quickly to lift those empty eyes to face hers, "why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Why not?" he croaked and started crying his body stung so badly, "What the fuck is there for me, huh? What the fuck am I supposed to do anymore?" he coughed and sniffled before feeling his own red irritated nose from cocaine, "No one's coming no one cares! I'm all the fuck alone-"

"Actually" Taylor frowned a bit and knocked her forehead against his, "I'm here for you, rich boy. I'll be here as long as you need me"

"I DON'T-"

"Babe" she corrected with a knowing glance and a shake of the head, "you do. More than you've ever known you need someone right now."

"To do WHAT?" he lamented as a moan, "WHAT is there for me, Taylor? I have fucking NOTHING! What part of NOTHING do you have a hard time understanding?"

_I've always been right behind you,_

_Now I'll always be right beside you_

"And WHAT makes you so sure about that?" Taylor growled and shook her head at him, "God fucking DAMN IT Cooper you're talking about misery to a fucking PROSTITUTE! What are you DOING to yourself? YOU fucked yourself! YOU can fix it!"

"No" he gagged and shook his head while trying to push her away, "I CAN'T! What part of 'can't' is having a hard fucking time registering with you? My entire LIFE as I knew it is gone! Imagine…" he ran the back of his hand under his eyes and coughed, "Imagine you had fucking everything…even though you didn't deserve it…"

She nodded along intently.

"Alright" he nodded stiffly and sniffled, "Now imagine all that shit being taken away from you like a fucking rug"

"Because…" she began coldly, "of YOUR fuckup mistake you did NOTHING to fix"

"I…!" he went to argue got suddenly got very sleepy again.

He was so fucked up he couldn't even keep his eyes open. The plan was maybe to pass out into a coma and never wake up again. Everyone's lives would be made so much easier, even this hooker who just pulled him off the streets like that. Everyone's lives could be made so much easier without him. Connor would stop running away and getting hurt, James could stop stressing, the kids could stop being protective and Mindy could stop worrying. He truly was a poison pill to all around him and he needed to be stopped. His evil and misfortune had been spread practically all over the globe now and he was just fucking done. All he ever wanted was to be loved by someone and he was…she loved him. She loved him terribly and by suffering like this he was killing her more each day. Mindy was more than likely worrying and crying over him and he couldn't bear think about that…bringing so much pain to the main person who didn't deserve it. She was so fucking beautiful and funny and smart and perfect. She had no right to have to think about his fuckup life all day. She deserved a life without him, she deserved a life with James he loved her so fucking much and felt strongly enough for her to say such.

_So many nights I've cried myself to sleep_

_Knowing that you love me I love myself._

"I think giving up is pathetic and weak" she said bluntly while running her fingers through his hair, "If you die now you'll let him win, do you understand me? You'll fucking let him win if you die now. He'll get the smug satisfaction of saying he was right as you rot in a box if they're fortunate enough to find your body wherever you end up killing yourself."

"I can't do it…!" He was already crying into his hand and shivering violently, "I'm so weak…"

"Not when I met you" she shook her head, "You're SO much better than you make yourself out to be, Cooper…"

"No" he mouthed at her and shook his head when she slapped him across the face and scowled.

"STOP IT GOD DAMN IT!" she scared the shit out of him but frankly didn't care, "You DON'T deserve death, alright? NO ONE deserves to DIE for something they've done…" she frowned and shrugged, "even if they killed someone else. Eye for an eye will make the whole world blind, remember?" she tried to smile a bit and pet his hair, "If you just damn everything as-is you're putting yourself in SUCH harm I can't even begin to describe it to you, Cooper."

"I don't care" he croaked when she shook her head and sighed.

"Well I've got news for you" she nodded, "When your heart stops beating you'll be REAL sorry you didn't have the BALLS to do anything about it while you still could."

With that she stood to leave him to himself and stopped before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Oh…" one last reminder she turned and faced the pathetic being which once was Cooper, "one last thing…" she curled her lips and leaned against the doorway, folding those rail-thin arms across her chest and sighing, "you know that Mommy who doesn't care for you?" she nodded since he didn't, "Well she just made press for literally beating the fucking shit out of a pap for insulting you after her last show before hubby cut her off from life. I just thought you should know that in case you really do thing about slicing your wrists up while I'm in the shower."

Running a hand through his hair after Taylor closed the door, Cooper took a deep breath and coughed in astonishment at that news, burying his face in his hands and sobbing.

_I never thought I would say that,_

_I never thought that it'd be...you._

…

"Lizzie Bear…" Amber giggled at the way Elizabeth kept sticking Lammy's face in her mouth and had to shake her head, "that's nasty. When you drop him nobody's gonna wanna pick him up because he'll be covered in spit and Lizzie Bear spit is just-"

"I love Lizzie Bear spit" Mindy grinned and Eskimo kissed Elizabeth before kissing Amber's cheek, "I love Ambieloo spit too. I love all my babies"

"I love you too, Mommy…" Amber sighed in the kitchen while running her fingers through Mindy's hair to brush it out, "So when's the costume party for you and Daddy?"

"Next week" Mindy giggled and kissed Amber's cheek as she sat on the countertop to properly get her fingers through her mother's hair, "Why, baby?"

"I don't know" Amber shrugged with a sigh, "I want you to have fun"

"Daddy is excited to host it too"

"Daddy is excited to be with YOU" Amber corrected with a sigh, "He'd watch paint dry with you, that's just how he is."

"And I love Daddy more" Mindy nodded curtly while kissing Elizabeth's cheek.

"She looks more like him everyday" Amber grinned while reaching forwards and petting Elizabeth's cheek as she hugged Lammy, making Elizabeth smile at her and squeeze Amber's hand in hers. "I love her so much, Mommy" she nodded while trying to blink tears away, which wasn't lost by Mindy and she pulled her oldest under her arm to kiss her, "She was the best thing to happen to us."

"I thought Daddy was the best thing to happen to us" Mindy nudged her and made Amber giggle and roll her eyes.

"You mean to YOU" she stuck her tongue out and grabbed Mindy's nose between her thumb and index finger, "I'm not the one doing the nasty."

"Ambie!" Mindy gasped when Amber waved her off.

"Please…you think that's the worst thing I've said?"

"You are six!"

"You're twenty-nine."

"I happen to be an ADULT" Mindy corrected, and Amber could only snort at that.

"Sure thing, Mommy" she rolled her eyes with a smirk before touching Mindy's arm, "And be careful…"

"Why?" Mindy frowned when Amber sighed and touching Mindy's arm gravely.

"I don't like the way Connor has been to you lately. He may get really mean with you and Daddy."

"Oh no, Ambieloo" Mindy's head shook when Amber remained stoic.

"Aunt Taryn is helping him, Mommy. They're trying to make you and Daddy get a divorce."

"Oh…" she figured Amber was referencing to the fight the other night and Mindy shook her head calmly, "Ambieloo that was Mommy's fault, Daddy and Mommy had a fight all by ourselves"

"And you do not think Connor will try to feed it?"

"And what will he get out of trying to drive a stake between me and Daddy? Nobody will ever come close to breaking us up, honey…"

"Doesn't mean he won't make your life a living hell"

"And what does he get out of doing so?" Mindy frowned and hugged herself, shrugging.

"Daddy all to himself"

"No…" Mindy smiled reassuringly and kissed Amber's forehead, "Nobody will EVER come between Mommy and Daddy…not even us."

"Then will you please just eat for him?" Amber frowned and ran her fingers along Mindy's massive wedding rings, "He loves you, Mommy…He loves you too much, all he wants to see is you happy. He didn't mean to hurt you, Mommy"

"I don't care what he meant" Mindy shook her head and smiled warmly, "All that matters is how much I love Daddy and how I would die for him."

"So will you please eat one of the cupcakes he made you?" Amber frowned and motioned to her right, where a tray of beautiful red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and rainbow sprinkles sat just how she liked them.

"OH MY GOD!" Mindy gasped and giggled, holding a hand over her mouth and giggling loudly at the display in front of her, "AMBIE! When did you…?"

"Not me" Amber shook her head with a smug grin and pointed upstairs, "Daddy."

"Daddy?" Mindy shook her head in astonishment and gasped, "DADDY made these?"

"He learned how to make them for you very hard, Mommy" she nodded with a giggle, "You hadda see the way he was reading for it, he loves you so much."

Mindy's eyes watered and she nodded somberly, tears unable to be prevented and she grabbed a cupcake out of the tray and just stared at it as if it were made of gold.

"Now it is too beautiful I don't want to eat it now and spoil its perfectness" Mindy frowned when Amber sighed and tugged her mother's hip-length raven hair.

"Eat the damn cupcake."

Mindy's eyes widened in astonishment before giggling at Amber and nodding, "Alrighty, mamacita."

Taking a deep breath she downed the cupcake and immediately reached for another one when Amber cleared her throat and nodded eagerly.

"Eat another one."

"Hmmm…" Mindy smirked and raised an eyebrow, "a little bossy, aren't we?"

"Daddy made them, he loves you, he made them because he loves you and knows you eat nothing."

"Not anymore" Mindy shook her head before grinning devilishly at the tray and Amber knew what she was thinking unfortunately.

"Go…" she motioned to the upstairs, "I'm sure Daddy will feel extra special if you eat them off him."

"That ain't the ONLY thing I'm doin' to him" Mindy sniggered mischievously before taking Elizabeth in one arm and the tray in the other. Quickly she bolted up the steps happy as can be and screaming at the top of her lungs, "JAMIE! JAMIE DARLING! JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE!"


	53. Chapter 53

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **firewing pegasus:** Apology accepted. Nope it's not the healthiest choice but at this point it's baby steps. As long as she's eating James feels they can just worry about healthy later. And good to know you're almost done catching up.

…

"Come on Snoopy, hold still!" Tryg ordered as he did his best to get the cape tied around Snoopy's neck. He, Connor and Tiffany were going to start filming Snoopy's debut film but they were having some difficulties getting going. First of all they couldn't find Snoopy or Spike (who was playing the role of Snoopy's sidekick) masks for a good hour (they finally found some eye masks they cut holes into so they wouldn't be completely blindfolded). Then it was a matter of getting the masks on. Neither Snoopy nor Spike wanted them on and were now trying to get them off so they could eat them. "Snoopy! Don't be naughty!"

Snoopy barked and began jumping all over Tryg, playfully attacking him because he thought that was the game they were playing.

"Snoopy baby no!" Tiffany scolded as Tryg squealed loudly. She placed the video camera down where it would be safe and tried to get the overexcited puppy to calm back down. "You're being too rough-" She shrieked and jumped back as Snoopy started pouncing all over her. "Snoopy! Ow ow ow baby your claws are too sharp!"

"Snoopy calm down!" Connor ordered, which made his beloved puppy cease attacking and trot over him so he could lay down at his feet.

Tryg pouted his lips and got back up to his feet. "How do you do that?" he asked. "I can't get Snoopy to listen to me like that."

Connor shrugged. "I dunno. Snoopy just listens to me real good." He raised his eyebrows as Spike randomly ran into the wall and knocked himself silly. He was always doing that and nobody could make him stop. They had all tried but all their efforts had been in vain. Spike was just a lost cause, plain and simple.

"So we're shooting the first scene in here, is that right?" Tiffany asked as she reclaimed possession of the camera.

"Uh huh," Tryg confirmed. "This is Snoopy's Batcave. And then when we're done here we can build a machine to make Snoopy look like he's flying-"

Connor was trying to listen to Tryg go on and on but he couldn't. He couldn't concentrate on anything he was trying to focus on. He was tired because he couldn't really sleep anymore. Every time he tried to sleep he had nightmares about being shot and he would wake up screaming and crying. And he didn't care what James or Tiffany said; the dreams felt so real. He was now utterly convinced he was going to get shot again and he didn't know what to do with himself. He was too afraid to even go outside and play in his own backyard, that was how much he was shaken.

And he hated it. He hated himself for being so weak and stupid and scared. Cooper was out there all alone with nobody to help him and he couldn't even do anything about it. What kind of brother was he? He sucked. Cooper always tried to protect him, even when he was being a big meanie. And then when it was Connor's turn did he ever do his job right? No, he didn't. He would think he did but then something else would go wrong. The night he had gotten stabbed he had thought that at least he had kept Cooper from getting killed. But no, all he had done was allow Cooper to go back on the streets where he was alone and probably dying in some alley. He was so fucking stupid. Maybe everyone else was right about him. Maybe he was just a retard after all.

"Connor?"

Connor jumped slightly, Tiffany's voice jarring him out of his unhappy thoughts. "What?" he said, blinking and shrinking back at the way Tiffany and Tryg were just staring at him.

"Are you okay?" Tiffany asked gently. She was getting really really concerned about the way Connor was behaving. He hadn't been himself at all since coming home from the hospital yet again. He wasn't being the gigantic brat he normally was or the equally gigantic sweetheart he was capable of being when he felt like it. He was distant, obviously severely affected by his whole experience during his rescue mission. And while that was obviously to be expected, she didn't like the fact that he was obviously bottling it up. The more he bottled it up the more it seemed to torment him and she hated that. He couldn't handle it and it was so painfully obvious that it was breaking her heart.

"Yeah," Connor lied. "I'm okay."

Tiffany and Tryg both exchanged looks. They both knew he was full of shit but Tryg was too young to get why that was bad and Tiffany didn't know how to get him to open up without upsetting him. "Are you sure?" she finally asked hesitantly.

"Yes!" he snapped, getting defensive now which was never a good thing. "I'm fine!"

Snoopy cocked his head to the side at Connor's tone and began wagging his tail and trying to jump on him to get him to cheer up. Connor however, was not amused. "Stop it Snoopy!" he yelled, scaring the poor puppy half to death.

"Connor!" Tiffany exclaimed, more shocked than anything as Snoopy deflated and began to make crying noises.

Connor shook his head and just about burst into tears. "I'm sorry Snoopy," he quickly apologized. He pulled his puppy into his lap with his good arm and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I got a retarded brain telling me what to do I can't help it."

"Connor…" Tiffany shook her head and went over to him so she could pet his head. The poor boy needed some kind of help and he needed it fast. She wanted to give him some kind of help herself but she honestly didn't know what to do. She really didn't. _Note to self: talk to James. And if he don't listen, slap him until he listens. Connor's his baby he has to do something about this._

…

James scrubbed his face with a wet rag, shaking his head at the way Thorn and Scarlett had just put a massive amount of make-up on him. He had let them give him a makeover and they had run wild with it. He literally felt like a tarted up whore and he was so busy trying to get the stuff off his face that he hadn't given a thought to getting rid of his fabulous pink fingernails Scarlett had so thoughtfully given him.

"Girls…" He chuckled and rinsed his face off, satisfied with how clean he had gotten himself. He knew that later on they were just going to want to do it again and he would happily let them because he was whipped. He was whipped and he was proud of it. Hell he was thinking about just keeping the pink nail polish on for awhile longer just because he knew the twins would enjoy seeing it.

"JAMIE! JAMIE DARLING! JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE!"

The sound of Mindy's yelling made him bolt from the bathroom to make sure nothing was the matter with his wife. But it became perfectly clear once he saw her bounding towards him while holding Elizabeth and the cupcakes he had made her that all the yelling was a good thing. "Baby Doll-"

"I love them Jamie!" she exclaimed, practically jumping all over him and pressing her lips against his. "I love them! Thank you Jamie!" She kissed him quite eagerly and he could kind of taste the cupcakes on her lips, which made him very very happy. "Ambie told me you made them for me-"

"Of course I did," he said, kissing her again before tapping her lightly on the nose. "I would make anything for you Baby Doll, you know that."

She giggled lightly and kissed him again. "I wanna finish them Jamie. I really do."

"So go ahead and do it Baby Doll," he encouraged. He wanted her to eat very very badly because she really needed it. She needed to put on weight again and go back to being his healthy Baby Doll.

"I'm going to Jamie," she promised him. "But I uh…need a special platter."

James raised his eyebrows. He could see the all too familiar twinkle in her eyes and he knew he was going to like where this idea was going. "Oh really now? A special platter? You think I could help you with that?"

Mindy stuck her tongue between her teeth and giggled loudly. "I sure hope so. I need all the help I can get Jamie."

"Well then…I can't let you be in need Baby Doll." He gave her one last kiss before leading her into their bedroom. Mindy set Lizzie Bear in her bassinet because she was happily chewing on Lammy and then grinned at James.

"I love it when you help me Jamie. You're so thoughtful. You're the biggest sweetheart ever."

"Well I try," he said with a grin. He took off his shirt and then flopped down on the bed. "I try very very hard for you Baby Doll."

She smiled and climbed on top of him before setting the tray of cupcakes down beside him. "You don't have to try hard for me Jamie. You always help me good." She took one of the cupcakes and broke it up into pieces so she could spread it around his chest. "Mmmm…yummy!"

He chuckled as she began to eat off of him, liking the way she made sure to kiss his chest with each and every single bite.

"I could eat off you forever," she informed him as she took another cupcake and did the same thing as she did with the first one, only this time she did it on his stomach. He watched her very intently, liking what he was seeing very very much. He could feel his cock starting to twitch inside the confines of his jeans and he arched up against her as much as she could to see if she would feel it too.

She giggled and grinded against him as she took another cupcake and started smearing the frosting all over his body. "From now on I want you to always make my cupcakes for me," she informed him. "Okay?"

"Of course," he agreed immediately. Like he would say anything else. "I'd make cupcakes for you forever and ever." He sucked in a quick breath as she began licking up the mess she made.

"Did you like that Jamie?" Mindy asked. She place the rest of the cupcake in his mouth and then began eating away at it, not stopping until she got to his lips which she kissed very happily.

"I loved it Baby Doll," he assured her. "And I love you."

"I love you more," she declared. She gave him another kiss before moving back so she could very slowly unbutton his jeans.

"I love the way you think," James said very eagerly. He helped her get his jeans off because they were now way too restricting. "You do need a much much bigger platter."

"Mhmm." Mindy giggled girlishly before taking another cupcake and just holding it while she stared at James. He was so beautiful and she wanted to cry because she still had a hard time believing that this was the man she was married to. He had chosen to spend the rest of his life with her and not anyone else even though she didn't deserve him. Sometimes she pinched herself to see if this was a dream because he was too good to be true. But either this really wasn't a dream or she was in a deep deep sleep she couldn't get out of (not that she wanted to-she was very fine where she was now).

"Baby Doll?" James asked, frowning slightly when he saw how watery her eyes were getting. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"

She sniffled and shook her head. "I'm fine." She blinked away her tears and got to work, smearing the frosting and breaking the cupcake into pieces all over James's lower body, purposefully ignoring his cock. He pouted his lips to try to get her to pay attention to it but she just went along her way, eating and licking and kissing and biting any other part of him she could get her mouth on.

"Fuck Baby Doll," he groaned, licking his lips and shaking his head in amazement. This teasing was getting absolutely unbearable. Her mouth was so close to him but yet it was so far from where he really wanted it to be.

"What is it Jamie?" she asked innocently. "Do you want my mouth somewhere else?" Her fingers reached out and very very lightly brushed against his cock, which made him groan loudly. "Is it there Jamie? Do you want my mouth there? You gotta tell me these things Jamie or I'm never going to know."

He licked his lips and nodded his head. "There. There Baby Doll." That was about as coherent as he could possibly be at the moment.

She smiled at his neediness before taking the last cupcake and holding it up playfully. "How bad would you say you needed my mouth?" she asked. "Can you tell me that my darling Jamie?" She took the frosting from the cupcake and began smearing it all over his dick, making him groan and arch up towards her fingers.

"I need it so fucking bad Baby Doll," he said, nodding along as he pleaded his case. "You have no fucking idea how bad I need it."

"Oh I think I do…" she sing songed as she ate the rest of the cupcake before swirling her tongue around just the head of his cock. "How's that Jamie?" she asked. "Is that good enough or do you need more?"

"More," he said immediately. He almost shouted it up he managed to control the volume of his voice at the last second.

"As long as you're sure." Teasing him was way too fun and she kept at it by just kissing her way up and down his length and then taking just the head of his cock into her mouth, lightly sucking on it and watching him as he struggled not to buck his hips up and force her to take more of him into her mouth. The combination of the frosting and the way he always tasted was a very nice combination and she began to take more and more of him into her mouth, sucking on him very greedily.

"Oh fuck," James groaned, grabbing on to the bed sheets so tightly that he just about ripped them to shreds. He was doing his best to watch her but her mouth felt so good that he had to throw his head back against the pillow and close his eyes. "I'm so fucking in love with your mouth Baby Doll." It was getting harder and harder to control his body's movements and he inadvertently bucked his hips up a couple times. She didn't complain though. She just continued to work him over with her mouth, not stopping until he came while moaning her name so loudly he probably got overheard by anyone who was in a nearby room.

Mindy made a show of swallowing every drop of his seed and squealed in delight as he pulled her back up towards him and rolled them over so he was on top of her. "I'm baking for you every day now," he decided, kissing her all over to repay her for the treatment she had just given him. "I hope you know that."

She just giggled and then moaned as his kisses started trailing lower and lower. If she got to eat it all off him afterwards she was perfectly okay with that wonderfully fantastic idea.

…

Cooper didn't know for just how long he just laid there and cried. His whole perception of time was out of whack. What he did know was that when he finally got control over himself was that his entire body was stiff as fuck and he couldn't stand the thought of staying in this apartment for another second. Not right now anymore. His nightmare was still freaking him the fuck out and he needed to just get away for awhile. Of course getting high was his ideal escape but it wasn't like he had anything just laying around. Every time he got his hands on some he used it all. He didn't mean to but once he started he couldn't stop. His self control went out the window every time he had an opportunity to escape from the hell that was his life.

He forced himself to stand up, nearly fainting because he suddenly became so light headed. At first he thought it was just because he stood up too fast but then he realized he hadn't ate anything since…well since he didn't remember when. He held on to his stomach and closed his eyes, actually believing that he was going to faint. But for whatever reason he stayed conscious and he stumbled out of the bedroom, heading towards the front door when he bumped directly into Taylor.

"Where do you think you're going rich boy?" she asked as she helped him keep his footing.

"I gotta get out," he told her. "I gotta get out I gotta get out like right now."

"And go where? Go get high again? Can I tell you the reasons why I can't let that happen?"

He groaned in frustration. "You can't make me stay here! It's too small I can't fucking breathe!" He began clawing at his arms as his body trembled uncontrollably. He was freaking out to the point where he really couldn't breathe. His lungs felt like they were being crushed by a horribly heavy weight so it hurt to even just inhale.

"Cooper stop," Taylor ordered, doing her best to get him to stop scratching at himself. "Stop!" She grabbed his wrists and shook her head. "Cooper don't baby. Don't do that."

"I can't breathe," he said miserably. "Please let me out I can't breathe!"

"Okay okay!" Taylor knew agreeing to this wasn't the best idea but what else could she do? She couldn't just let him just stand there and freak out right in front of her. "We'll go for a walk, okay?" She grabbed his hand and began to pull him along, getting him outside as fast as she could. "There. Is that better?"

He let out a long breath, feeling slightly better that he was out in the fresh air. His trembling refused to cease though. It just kept going and going; he had no control of his body anymore and it sucked.

"Rich boy?"

"It's better," he said with a nod. "A little. Thanks."

"No problem." She tightened her grip on his hand and kept as close to him as possible so he wouldn't just take off running on her. They walked in silence for several minutes, with Cooper doing her very best to just forget about his dream all together. He wanted to repress it all and never think about it again but he couldn't. Joie's managed and bloody face was seared in his mind and the words he had said were ringing in his ears. He knew Joie was right and that knowing made it impossible to forget about it like he wished he could.

"Who's Joie?" Taylor asked quietly.

Cooper stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"Joie. You were screaming that when you woke up-"

"No. No I wasn't."

"Yes you were. I heard you say Joie." She blinked, taken aback by the expression on his face. "Who is he?"

"None of your business," he growled. Where did she get off asking about Joie? No…no no no she couldn't fucking know. She didn't deserve to know.

"Rich boy-"

"Drop it. Just drop it." He couldn't even begin to discuss Joie. He could barely talk about him to Mindy without his heart shattering in pieces so he couldn't even begin to start talking about him to Taylor. "If you fucking care about me as much as you say you do then you'll drop this right now."

"Okay," she said quickly. She licked her lips nervously. He was seriously freaking her out with his reaction. He actually looked like he was going to become completely unhinged. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

He growled in response, still not satisfied because the damage was still done. Joie was still on his mind and it made him feel like he was drowning once again. He needed to have an escape now more than ever. He had to get so high he would either never come down again or die; the latter being the preferred option because then he would never feel anything again.

Before he could let go of her hand and take off so he could try to find himself some medicine, he was blinded by dozens of flashing lights. "What the fuck?" he yelled as Taylor cursed alongside him.

"Cooper! Cooper! Who is this girl with you? Is there any truth to the stories that you're on drugs? Are you high right now Cooper? Cooper!"

"Oh fuck me," he groaned as he blinked to regain his vision. He and Taylor were absolutely surrounded by paparazzi. They were all up in his business, taking his picture like he was some freak at the circus.

"Cooper what do you have to say about the new abuse allegations that are being made about your father towards your step-mother?"

"What?" Cooper said incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"Your father yanked your mother from all scheduled appearances and is isolating her." There was so many photographers around that he couldn't tell who was talking. "That monster that was her first husband-"

"Dad isn't like him," Cooper snapped. He didn't know why he was coming to James's defense right now, given everything that had gone on between them. It was probably just instinct. That was the only reasonable explanation. "Dad never-"

"Did he ever hit your biological mother?"

"NO!" Cooper shouted, balling up his fists and shaking his head. "And he's not hitting Mom either so shut up!"

"What caused the fallout with you and your family? What is your side of the story?"

"None of your business." He grabbed Taylor's hand and started trying to make an escape.

"Cooper! What do you say to the reports of your brother's undiagnosed retardation?"

Taylor's eyes widened as Cooper whirled around. "Rich boy don't-"

"You fucking freaks leave my brother alone!" he shouted angrily. "You fucking stay away from him, you hear me?" That was the last thing Connor needed; having the whole world calling him retarded. That probably was the real diagnosis but with the way people always just threw it around, that was the last thing he needed to be called.

The paparazzi just kept flashing their cameras, not giving a shit about anything he said because it wasn't what they wanted to hear. "Cooper did you see the attack Mindy took part in after her last performance?"

"No but I heard she kicked some major ass," he shot back.

"She went off after being asked about you and your drug use. What are your comments about that?"

"What is your relationship like with her now?"

"Is she involved with you and your father like some kind of wh-"

Cooper didn't even let that jackass finish that sentence. Out of rage and annoyance he speared the guy to the ground and began hitting him over and over again, literally trying to beat the guy's face in until Taylor forcibly yanked him off and dragged him away before somebody could call the cops and have him arrested.


	54. Chapter 54

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Definitely. That guy had it coming. He was lucky he didn't get killed for those comments.

…

Sniffling and trembling while holding her cell phone in her hands, Tiffany stood in the doorway of Mindy's piano room saying nothing as the rockstar seemingly droned away hard at work on her grand piano James had bought her (it was more like what didn't he buy her?).

"_No matter how many nights that you lie wide awake to the sound of the poison rain. Where did you go? Where did you go? Where did you go?" _she sang in a tone that Tiffany realized really wasn't hers, so whatever was going to become of this strange project she knew she'd been working on was beyond her, "_As days go by, the night's on fire"_

"Loo?" Tiffany croaked a bit fearfully from the doorway, making the piano-playing cease and the singing be put on hold as Mindy whipped her head around to see Tiffany a complete shaking mess in the doorway.

"Taryn?" she gasped and immediately flopped off the bench to stumble her way towards her, "What is wrong, Taryn? TELL ME what happened what happened?" grabbing Tiffany's sculpted arms she shook her head and looked Tiffany over, "What happened to you? Did somebody hurt you? Did somebody hurt you, Taryn you look DEAD what is-"

"I'm fired" was all Tiffany could whimper out while looking her best friend in the eye. It took Mindy a moment to think that over before shaking her head in denial.

"What?"

"I'm FIRED from WWE, Loo Loo! I got called this morning I'm in the future endeavors club"

Even though Mindy seemed to be acting surprised, she totally saw that coming. Usually when one was taken off TV for stupid reasons such as this or that it was never good.

"Are you kidding?" Mindy snapped and shook her head with a bit of a scowl, "Why? What did you do wrong, that makes no SENSE you are supposed to be MY protégé its in your contract not to fire you unless you do something really stupid like rape a small child"

"I guess that hotel fight with Drew was enough to do it" Tiffany sniffled and looked at the tiny rockstar for a moment before throwing her arms around her and crying hysterically.

"Oh no no no ssssshhh…" Mindy HATED it when people cried it always made her cry too as a reflex, "It's okay…" she sniffled and nodded while running her fingers through Tiffany's long blonde hair, "It's okay, it's okay…"

"I messed up" Tiffany croaked while actually being held up by her petite best friend, which absolutely blew her away at how physically strong the schizophrenic truly was, "It's my fault, Loo I got arrested. I came out here because I kinda knew it was all over…" her blue eyes clouded and she started to cry harder, "even though I didn't want it to be, I just kind of knew."

"Well I do not want it to be, that's fucking bullshit!" Mindy hissed and ripped her cell phone out of her pocket, "I made an AGREEMENT with that son of a bitch to keep you, Barbie, and Miznark fucking employed that son of a bitch thinks he is going to get away with this?" she snorted and barred her teeth, "I will fucking kill him."

"No, Loo" she sniffled and held onto her when Mindy shook her head and squeezed Tiffany's hand tighter in hers.

"No, Taryn" Mindy corrected and held her hand while leading her out of the room, "I'll make Jamie fucking kill him who the FUCK does Big Mac think he is to fire you? The son of a BITCH" she hissed and shook her head while stomping into the kitchen and jumping on a countertop, "Did you tell Babs yet?"

"No…" Tiffany sniffled and shook her head, hugging Mindy and burying her face into Mindy's neck, "I just wanted to tell you so-"

"No" she waved her off and dug through her contacts before finding the combination of numbers she recognized, "He's fuckin' dead if I sick Jamie on him. Nobody fires my Taryn and lives to talk about it."

"But-"

Already Mindy was on the phone and began SCREAMING something so unintelligible it scared Tiffany stiff. The volatile young woman stamped about like an angry little soldier, barring her teeth and flipping her hair behind her every two seconds to the point that all the kids had run upstairs to watch the show. Kelly immediately ran to Tiffany and held her (she didn't know what was going on) as Mindy made a complete ass out of Vince McMahon and refused to let up.

"NO!" she growled like a wildcat into the phone and slapped a palm to the doorway to the point that it was scary, "YOU LISTEN TO ME! How DARE you terminate her contract when she has done NOTHING! I repeat! NOTHING to damage your company! How! DARE YOU keep Milena Roucka around when she can't wrestle for SHIT and she's ugly as fucking sin! How DARE you! I will NEVER! EVER! Endorse that scum you call a company ever again! I will NEVER make an appearance on your programming ever again! I want ALL my merchandise pulled! I want ALL my videos taken out of your god damn vault! I want OFF your website! And if I EVER EVER find out you are promoting me in ANY way I will slap a fucking lawsuit on you so fast you will be paying until you're DEAD and your grandkids pick up the difference! There will no longer BE a 'WWE' if you EVER utter my name in a show or ANYTHING like that! I OWN ME! I OWN MY NAME! You do not own SHIT Mindy Stratus was a name I created NOT you! NO! I don't CARE what the fuck sorry you are because I know from EXPERIENCE that you are most certainly NOT! FUCK you! FUCK your company! I've fucking had it! Taryn's going to TNA where she will kick ass BEYOND anything you have ever seen FUCK YOU!"

The phone was hung up so fast Mindy almost threw it before taking a few heated breaths and realizing she had an audience, who all started applauding and she just shook her head with a dramatic roll of her eyes before stamping right back into the kitchen and hugging both Taryn and Kelly.

"I love you ladies" she smiled a bit and reached up to move hair out of Taryn's face, "I'ma make a call to some friends in TNA for you, okay?"

"Why, what happened?" Kelly frowned and looked to Tiffany worriedly, "Babe, what happened?"

Tiffany could only shake her head and just watch as Mindy whipped her magic phone out yet again and make some calls to friends of hers. Tears sprang to her eyes and she could think whatever she wanted of Mindy and James, but when the chips were down that girl had her back in ways she couldn't even begin to think about. She was relentless.

"What-up, Easy E?" that was clearly Eric Bischoff she was negotiating with, "I'm meh, not for me I am calling about the most beautiful and amazing person I know who was just fired by your best friend…yes…" she nodded and tried not to go off on a tangent, "I want you to hire her and I want you to hire her NOW. She's hot, she's sexy, she's talented, she's not afraid to take her clothes off…yeah" she nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear, "Yeah I'll bring her in, I don't care what I gotta do I'll just tag along with Jeffrey Nero for the next taping and I will bring her backstage. No, I do not want her near Velvet I fuckin' hate her…Madison is annoying too I do not want her being a bitch to my Taryn…Daffney's a fuckin' weirdo I'll kick her ass…I only want Lisa and Christy around her if I see another one of those bitches I will have a fucking conniption. YES I have that much faith in her, she was not given a fair break fuck, I'LL wrestle her if you would like to see what she can do. I taught her everything she knows I will come to shit with her, but my husband may have to come with me if that is okay with…" she smirked a moment and nodded, "Yes…James…No, I promise he will be on his best behavior he is such a good boy, Easy E. He is not as much trouble as you think he is. I am just not allowed to travel without my guardian and I could not possibly leave him behind he will get so sad, Mr. Bischoff…you understand…So I'll ahhh…" she shrugged and slapped her thigh, "I will most definitely tell Taryn to pack her things" she turned to Taryn and gave her a wink, "and we will see you next week for the screen test! Thank you for your understanding…bye bye!"

She didn't even get to hang up properly because Tiffany's arms were around her and all she did was cry. She didn't thank her; she didn't really say a damn thing because it wasn't necessary. She was never so in love with her best friend despite all the horrible things she'd said about her husband and her relationship with him, there she was getting her another job and daring to chew her old boss out. It didn't get much more dedicated than that, and James walked into the room holding both Elizabeth and Chelsea to see the two women embracing each other without a word.

"Baby Doll?" his instincts of course made him panic and immediately his wife shot out a hand and took his tightly, "Baby Doll, what's wrong? Are you alright? What's the matter?"

"I am okay" Mindy frowned and kissed his fingers individually before nuzzling his hand and snuggling into Tiffany, "But Big Mac fired Taryn and that is NOT cool at ALL!"

"Why?" James frowned and shook his head at Tiffany, "What'd you do?"

"NOTHING!" Mindy shouted at no one in particular and clenched her teeth, "But I wanna fuckin' kill in a way you have never seen I cannot fucking stand that son of a bitch for even THINKING it was cool to let her go!"

"She got him good, Daddy" Tryg marveled his mother's angry phone call with a smile, "She was all stompin' around like this" he mimicked the very way she was holding the phone, pacing about, making the angry face that was too cute to be angry, and flipping the hair he didn't have over his head, "It was AWESOME!"

"She is making Aunt Taryn go to TNA now" Amber said while approaching Tiffany and running her fingers through her hair, "You are coming with her, Daddy, I think."

"Am I?" he asked Mindy hopefully and she nodded silently, kissing his fingers more and dragging him closer by his arm so she could cuddle it.

…

"So let me get this straight…" James smiled fondly while lying propped on his elbows over Mindy in their bed that night, "My favorite peroxide blonde was fired…"

"Yes" she nodded and gave his nose a kiss as a reward.

"You called your old boss up and ripped him a new one…"

"Yes" she nodded and kissed his nose sweetly once more.

"THEN you proceeded to call up your old general manager and instruct him to place her on his show…?"

"Yes again, my love" she kissed his nose and giggled as he leaned down to kiss her on the lips as long as she'd allow it.

"And you conned him into agreeing and now want to somehow get her on the show meaning she'd be travelling with them and no longer living with us?"

"Correct" she nodded and kissed him on the lips, gently pulling his lower lip into her mouth and sucking on it, "She must miss Avatar anyway she has not seen him in so long, so she can see him maybe on her off days and come up to see us every now and then…?"

"And we're going to a taping together because…?" he nipped at her lips now and brushed some hair out of her face.

"Taryn needs all the help she can get and I want to help her" she nodded and kissed him, "I am giving her pretty much a screen test and we will see where that goes. Most likely they will take her because when we rehearse the planned match I will make her look very very good"

"Wait wait wait a minute…" he frowned and gently trailed a finger down her chest before closing his hand over one of her breasts, "you're actually wrestling a match? Darling, it's been almost five years"

"I do not care" she shrugged and kissed him, "YOU just have to be a good good boy backstage and promise me not to torment anyone while I am making Taryn look good."

"I can always watch, right?" he asked hopefully and she nodded with a bit of a smirk.

"Depends on how good you fuck me tonight" she smirked while lifting a leg and hooking it around his waist, digging her nails into his back and lightly whispering into his ear, "I love you…"

"I love you more" he corrected and drove himself inside her as hard as he could, making her inhale sharply and cry out happily. Her head threw back to where his hand was supporting it from hitting the pillow and she moaned with every thrust coming from his hips.

"Jamie…!" she whimpered and held him close, making James smile and nestle into the crook of her neck.

"I would love to wrestle you on a mat"

"Ooo, Jamie!" she giggled and kissed him hard, "Ask and ye shall receive."

…

"Cooper! Cooper!" Taylor gasped after they'd run off and threw him against a brick wall in an alley, "Are you KIDDING? Did you see what"

"He called her a whore!" he shrieked and started to seethe, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head at her drearily, "He called her a whore! He called her whore I ought to have fucking killed him he fucking called her a god damn whore that's my mother! That's my fucking mother you don't call her a fucking whore I should have fucking killed him!"

"You did do a nice number" she nodded admittedly and ran a hand over his arm kindly, "I thought they were gonna arrest you"

"For fucking killing him?" his voice spiked back up and he hissed, "Fucking yeah I'll fucking kill him next time I swear I'll do it, I'll do it you don't call her a whore that's my god damn mother that's my best friend you don't her a-"

"Ssssh…rich boy!" she shouted and placed both her hands on a side of his face, "RELAX, babe! You did it, you beat him up! It's over now!"

"NO IT ISN'T!" Cooper shrieked at her and shook his head frantically, "He's gonna go tell everyone that my mother's a whore because I let him LIVE and get away with it! He thinks its okay because I let him live so he can tell everyone! He doesn't have any fucking idea who she is and what I will fucking do to anyone who even thinks its okay to use her and that word in a god damn sentence!"

"And I get that!" she nodded quickly and petted his arm, "Really rich boy, I do! But" she grabbed his arm as he started to bolt off, "It's really better if you just keep yourself on the d-l for a little bit so nobody like, comes the hell after you for killing camera men, you know? Mommy got away with it because she's a celebrity…but they put celebrity kids on trial all the fucking time, its suicide to go back after him!"

"I don't care" Cooper growled and shook his head, "I want to die anyway"

"No you don't" she shook her head as he started to storm out of the alley, really confusing him and making him stop in his tracks.

"What did you say?"

She stood firm and folded her arms across her chest, "I don't think you truly want to die. If you honestly wanted to do it you would have done it already and NOT by fucking drugs, that's to make you feel better. You want someone to come after you, you want that 'special someone' to pull you out of this slump and make everything better…" she shook her head, "but because your people skills are so fabulous you know that's not happening. I tried to help you but obviously I'm not the answer. Whoever you want is out there still and no, Cooper, you're not helping your cause one bit. You want attention and because you're no longer getting it you'll find reasons to make people pay attention to you. Maybe Mommy will see how well you stood up for her and come after you to make you all better like a little baby? Who knows with you at this point, honestly" she shrugged and folded her arms across her chest, "In the end whatever comes, only YOU can help you. You don't need anything but yourself to determine happiness and look at what a job you've done! The self-destruction is a cry for help, not an attempt on your life. You're just waiting for someone to come along, feel so terrible for you that they take you off the streets, and force themselves through a shitload of trials and tribulations to make YOU feel better about yourself and making their lives a living hell paying for something that YOU caused upon YOURSELF! You are NOT punishing YOU like you claim you are…you're punishing Mommy and Daddy and all the other little kids and I find it disgusting" she backed off and shook her head at him, "You're not who I thought you were, rich boy." She backed away and shook her head, "I thought you were someone who was misunderstood…not histrionic."


	55. Chapter 55

**Gonna sneak this one in here and hope it works...**

Cooper stormed down the street, having absolutely no idea where he was going beyond away. He had to get away because he was so fucking angry he couldn't stand it. Between that fucking asshole calling Mindy a whore and Taylor daring to tell him how he felt, he was beyond furious. He had to just get away and do something to get all of this rage out of him. It was just simmering inside of him, making his blood boil to the point where he felt like he was going to explode. He was so fucking sick of this fucking world and almost everyone in it. What the fuck did they know? How the fuck could they judge Mindy or think they could understand how he felt? They didn't fucking know anything and them thinking they did pissed him the hell off.

He cracked his knuckles and looked around at his surroundings. He had no idea if Taylor was even bothering to chase after him and he really didn't care at the moment. What he needed was a way to fucking expel the fucking rage inside of him. The ideal way to do that would be to kill someone but there wasn't a person in sight. That was beyond frustrating. He clenched his fists and looked around some more, managing to find a lead pipe just laying there in an alley. He gripped the cold metal object tightly, liking the feel of it in his hands very much. He could just imagine smashing someone's brains in with it but since there was still nobody in sight, he decided to settle on smashing all the windows out of the nearest car. The sound of the glass breaking gave him a nice feeling and once he was done with the first car he went to the one nearest to it and started smashing the windows on that one too. He didn't give a shit who saw him doing this. This action was so fucking primal and violent that it felt absolutely therapeutic.

Another car down and it was time to go on to the next one. And then the next one. And then the next one. He actually lost count of how many cars he went berserk on. He just kept going down the street and smashing the windows as hard as he could, not stopping until he literally could not lift his arms up anymore. Panting because he didn't realize just how out of breath he was, he ducked into another empty alley and threw himself down on the ground so he could just curl up and stew in his pain and frustration. All that had helped but he knew that was a temporary fix. It hadn't changed the fact that he allowed someone who called Mindy a whore to live. He was absolutely disgusted with himself that he had let that shit fly. He shouldn't have stopped with beating that asshole up. He should have fucking killed him on the spot. Nobody should get away with that. Absolutely nobody.

And then there was Taylor…where the fuck did she get off talking to him like that? She didn't even know him. No, she was just a whore who worshipped Mindy and kept him around because it wasn't like Mindy even knew who she was or would rush to associate with her even if she did. She didn't know him at all, let alone understood him. The only person that truly got him was Mindy. And he fucking needed her so bad now but he couldn't get to her. Not with James guarding her the way he was. He was never ever going to let him near her if he could help it. And Cooper hated that. He fucking needed her so badly but he couldn't have her. She couldn't be there to help him as his world continued to fall even more apart. He needed her to fix him and make everything be alright.

"Fuck me," he said unhappily, running his hand through his hair and tossing the lead pipe aside. He didn't know what the fuck to do with himself anymore. He was so angry and pissed off and frustrated and it wasn't fair. He just wished he could fucking die already. He didn't give a shit what Taylor said; he did want to die because death had to be fucking better than this. He just had to go ahead and do it already. He had to stop fucking around and just do the whole world a favor. Everyone would be better off. He could take his knife right now and slit his wrists and just bleed to death right there. Why was he even wasting time? It had to be done eventually.

He started to reach for his knife but a sudden compulsive urge stopped him. If he was going to die it wouldn't hurt to have one last high, would it? Hell, he felt like he deserved one after everything he had gone through. Just one more high and then he could go finally die and prove Taylor wrong. Maybe that was spiteful but he didn't give a shit. It wasn't like his life could be fixed so it would better if he just exited the building. At least then everyone else could be happy.

…

Tiffany hadn't realized just how much her stuff had gotten spread out during all her time at the Casa de Lawson until it was time for her to pack her things. Packing always sucked but today it seemed like an even bigger chore than usual. She had Tryg running around trying to help her find stuff that had been misplaced and she was going to have Connor help too but he hadn't come out of his room yet. She and Tryg had tried to get him out earlier but he had whined and claimed he had been sleeping so they had left him alone. But now she was wondering if he was even sleeping at all or if he was just hiding inside his room wanting to be left alone. He had been doing that a lot lately and it worried her.

Deciding to forego packing for a little while, she left her room and went to Connor's. "Connor?" she said as knocked on the door. No answer. She frowned and went ahead and let herself into the room to find him curled up on the bed crying softly to himself. "Connor baby?" She hated seeing him cry so she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Sweetie what's the matter?"

He sniffled and cried a little bit more before answering. "You're leaving me," he said unhappily.

"Honey-"

"You're leaving me. Why are you leaving me? Don't you like me anymore?"

"Of course I do. I love you sweetheart. It's just time for me to go."

"But why? You don't even have a job no more you don't have to go!"

"I got that tryout with TNA, remember? If that goes the way I want it to I can work there. I miss wrestling sweetheart and I need to spend more time with Drew-"

"But he's an infidel!" Connor whined. He didn't like Drew at all and he knew Drew really didn't like him back, which made him not like him more. He didn't even see why Tiffany married him and he wished he had blown him up at the wedding when he had the chance. That way she wouldn't have to be married to him anymore.

Tiffany shook her head. "He's not an infidel sweetie. He's my husband."

"He's still an infidel." Connor wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "And you don't have to leave me. You don't. I'll build you a wrestling ring and you can wrestle there."

She smiled weakly at that. "That's very nice of you honey but I still have to go. I have to live my life-"

"So you just don't like me anymore," Connor concluded. That was both the real conclusion he was drawing and his way of trying to guilt her into staying. He loved her because she was one of the only friends he had and he didn't want her to go anywhere. It wasn't fair and it was mean that she felt like she had to.

Tiffany repressed a groan. She knew that was coming but she tried to keep her composure. "I love you very very much Connor and I will come back to see you, okay? I just need to go and do my own thing for awhile. It doesn't mean I don't care about you because I'll do. I'll call you all the time to check on you and talk to you and all that stuff. So can you be a big boy and try to understand that for me?"

Connor didn't give her an answer to that. He just started bawling his eyes out because he didn't know what else to do. Mentally and emotionally he was a wreck. With no sign of Cooper and the lasting trauma of his botched rescue mission, this was the last thing he could really deal with at the moment. Without Tiffany he didn't feel like he had anyone. Cooper was gone, Tryg was too little to get it and James only had so much time for him anymore with Mindy and all the other babies running around.

"Oh Connor…" Tiffany sighed and continued to hug him, not even noticing that Oxa had wandered into the room until she hopped on the bed and sat right by Connor.

"Wha…" He looked at Oxa through his teary eyes. "What do you want?" he asked in confusion.

Oxa just glared at him before nuzzling her head under his chin and then gently head butting him right in the face. "Hey!" Connor objected. He tried to move back but she kept getting right in his face. "That's not cool you dumb kitty!"

Tiffany could barely contain her giggles as Oxa got Connor one last time before turning around and hitting him with her tail before jumping off the bed and trotting away. "Maybe she decided to like you."

"Or maybe she wants to torture me," Connor muttered. "That kitty is evil."

"Oh she is not."

"Yes she is. She's plotting to kill us all."

Tiffany shook her head and brushed his long hair out of his eyes. Now that he seemed somewhat distracted from the whole her leaving him thing she wanted to keep him occupied so he wouldn't be so sad. "Do you want me to take you and Tryg to go get some ice cream? We'll go and get bit sundaes with lots and lots of sprinkles on them."

Connor bit his lower lip and cast a nervous glance towards the window. He hadn't really been outside since the entire getting shot incident.

"Nothing will happen to you sweetheart," she gently assured him. "I'll protect you I promise."

He still seemed very very hesitant about agreeing to it but in the end he nodded. "Okay. You pinky promise?"

"Yes I pinky promise."

"You can't break a pinky promise you know. If you do your pinky blows up and then you'll never have it ever again."

Tiffany raised her eyebrows and kissed the side of his head. She hadn't heard that one before. "Don't worry. I would never ever break a pinky promise to you so my pinkies will never blow up."

"Okay." He let her get up first and grab his hand and then allowed to her gently lead him out of the room. He was still far from being okay with her leaving him but he would keep his peace at least until after the ice cream. After that he was not going to make any promises about his behavior.

…

"Jesus Rob, do we really need that many snacks?" Jeff asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He and Rob had stopped in a convenience store to grab some drinks and some snacks but Rob was currently going overboard with the shopping.

Rob shrugged at the question. "Hey man, when you have to munch, you have to munch."

Jeff rolled his eyes. Rob had smoked some weed before they had left and Jeff kind of wished that he had done the same thing because it would relieve the tension that was inside of him. He had been in a really antsy mood all day and it was bugging the shit out of him because he couldn't make it go away. His dad had been calling him asking him if he heard anything from Matt and he had to once again had to say no and then lie and assure his dad that Matt was going to be just fine. He fucking hated lying to his father. He wanted to tell him the truth because he deserved to know but if he did that he was signing himself up to join Matt in the afterlife. And while he loved his brother dearly, he was in no hurry to do that any time soon.

He moved his bottle of Mountain Dew to his other hand because it was so cold and let his eyes wander over to the magazine rack. Almost immediately though he wished he hadn't done that. The Lawsons were literally plastered on every single cover and it made him shake his head. A lot of them were just literally tearing James apart because he had pulled Mindy from any and all appearances that she had scheduled. They were making up stories of abuse and him controlling her like Kane did and yadda yadda yadda; it all stemmed from the fact that he was depriving them of Mindy and they didn't appreciate that. Jeff wondered what would happen if they ever dared to say that shit to his face. His guess was that they would find themselves on the blade of his knife without much hesitation. He would totally enjoy that.

There was another magazine talking about Connor but the one that kept really getting Jeff's attention was the one talking about Cooper. The magazines had been all over him lately because of the rumors of him living out on the streets and using drugs and all other kinds of shit. And according to the shit they had just heard on the radio, some kind of altercation between him and the paparazzi had just gone down and would surely make front page news by morning.

"Yo, Hardy boy," Rob said, waving his hand in front of Jeff's face to get his attention. "You okay?"

Jeff blinked and forced himself to look away from the magazines. "I'm fine," he lied.

"You sure?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't I be fine?"

Rob shook his head and nodded towards the nearest magazine with Cooper on it. "Maybe you should talk to him."

"Talk to him?" Jeff said incredulously. He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Are you kidding me Rob? Are you fucking kidding me? Why would I fucking talk to him?"

"Because you miss him."

"No I don't," Jeff snapped, even though the denial sounded hollow to his own ears. "I don't. I'm fucking done with his bullshit I don't need it."

Rob sighed. "That's always easier said than done Hardy."

"Oh yeah? And how would you know? You don't know anything-"

"I loved him once upon a time," Rob said, cutting Jeff off. "He ran off after that whole Joie thing and ended up in Philadelphia. He was staying with Sandman and I fell for the damaged fucker like hardcore."

"And how did that work out for you?" Jeff asked.

"We slept together a few times but that was it," Rob answered bluntly. There was still thin traces of hurt laced in his voice that didn't go unnoticed by Jeff. "He was too fucked for a relationship then."

"Yeah well that hasn't changed," Jeff muttered. "He fucking raped Mindy man and he fucked his own brother. I can't just fucking forgive that shit man. That whole family-"

"Hey man, I didn't tell you what to do or anything," Rob said innocently. "I don't blame you for being pissed. You've got no reason to ever want to take him back. But that don't mean you don't miss him."

"But I don't-"

"You do man. Come on, it's plastered all over your face right now. You miss him and you hate yourself for missing him because you don't want to do it. But you just can't pretend that you don't feel it. You gotta embrace the pain and deal with it. It's not going to go away any other way."

Jeff took that in and slowly shook his head. "Rob?"

"Yeah?"

"Go smoke another joint and shut up."

Rob frowned as Jeff turned on his heel and stomped off. "What did I say?" he asked himself before shaking his head and chasing after the younger Hardy. Jeff! Man wait up!


	56. Chapter 56

**NeroAnne**: She did. She let him know where it's at. Now he just needs to listen. And yep, Jeff is back : ) I knew you would appreciate that.

…

"So you promise me you will be a good boy?" Mindy frowned outside the arena while holding James's face in her hands.

Taryn had already gone inside to get prepared for her tryout while Mindy hung back with James because she was going to have to leave him soon even though she didn't want to. She never wanted to leave him, but now of all times especially. They were going to a strange place and she'd hired three babysitters to watch over James since he was banned from the WWE locker room for being a pain in everyone's ass as well as a little terrorist.

Now, she thought nothing of the sort concerning James's behavior because he was a perfect little sweet angel and that was that, but apparently there were those who felt otherwise. If she ever ran into them they'd receive a steak knife to the small intestine because Jamie was perfect. The fear of such a horrible thing being true for the TNA locker room scared her the most, so she wanted to ensure he stayed out of any kind of trouble.

"Baby Doll…" he smiled fondly and kissed her, "You don't have to worry…I'm always a good boy for you, you know that baby" he nodded while rubbing the bridges of their noses together and kissed her once again. Still she was cross.

"But Jamie" she shook her head with a frown and pet his face as gently and lovingly as she could, "You know how I love you and I KNOW that you are my perfect beautiful angel" her eyes dropped and she frowned, "but not everybody likes to think so because they are all BASTARDS who are so jealous of you and how beautiful you are so they make up LIES" she nodded with wide eyes and rubbed her nose against his, "I NEED you to be a very good boy for the babysitters because I know in WWE everybody deserves to die, but I do not want to have to say they all deserve to die here too, darling. You are PERFECT and I want the world to know what a good perfect boy I have"

"And I'll be good, baby, I promise" he nodded eagerly and gave her a kiss, which she not only accepted but glided her tongue down his throat and started crying when he returned the favor, tightening her hold on his neck and refusing to let him go.

"I LOVE YOU, Jamie I DO!" she sobbed into his throat and wrapped her arms around him tight, "You are my best friend Jamie I do not wanna leave you for anything, Jamie I don't wanna go! I don't wanna go away I don't want to NO!" she screamed and buried her face in his chest, which he frowned at and gently sifted through her thick mane of hair with his fingertips.

"I don't want to go away from you either" he frowned and nuzzled her neck before giving her a big kiss, "but I'll be right backstage!" he smiled brightly and gave her a nod, "I'll be right backstage so you can run right back and see me when you're finished helping!"

She seemed to like that and smiled fondly, "Do I get to teach you how to wrestle later after?"

"Of course you do, Baby Doll" he nodded and nipped her ear with a wink, "I'm very excited to learn"

"Learn?" she raised an eyebrow and waved him off with a giggle, "Oh Jamie darling, I will not TEACH you jack! You should know enough from playing that silly video game!"

He paused and contemplated that statement, "Don't you-"

"I do not approve of those wrestling games, Jamie Paul" she shook her head and kissed him, "I play games with substance"

"Like Robot Unicorn Attack" James smirked knowing what was coming and she smacked his butt before grabbing it through his jeans and getting ideas of sliding her hand down his pants.

"You watch it, Mister" she nodded at him didactically, "You're givin' me ideas about how dirty I'ma get once we-"

His hand covered one of her artificial breasts and rested over it, "I knew you were hot for me this whole time"

She shifted her hand to the front and slightly rubbed his crotch through his jeans, "When am I not?"

…

"JEFFREY NERO! JEFFREY NERO!" Mindy screamed upon arrival backstage because Jeff was practically jumping at the door he was so eager to find her. , "EEEEEK!" she squealed once lifted into a hug and poked her feet in the air before hugging him and giggling loudly, "How are you holding up?"

Jeff took one look at James and dropped his eyes. He knew better than to say a damn word in front of James because if the patriarch Lawson didn't like it no doubt blood would paint the walls.

"I've been better" he nodded a bit and Mindy frowned before sighing.

"Same."

"So…" Jeff looked around them and shrugged, "are you coming back for good? Or…?"

She sighed and blew air past her lips, "Taryn's screentest is tonight at Impact. Easy E is gonna give me a call when he comes to a decision and I get to escort her to the ring tonight and make sure she beats fuckin' Angelina 'cause I hate her."

"Who don't you hate?" Jeff shook his head with a soft smile and went to wrap an arm around her, but again Poppa James was enough to scare the devil himself out of touching her.

"You're babysitting" she sighed and reached to grab James's hand, "You, RVD, and Anderson do a three-way split I don't care WHAT ya have to do y'all are watching my perfect beautiful angel one way or another"

Jeff looked at James worriedly, knowing fully well that he was no god damn angel and Mindy wouldn't want to hear a thing about it.

"I love you, Jamie" she pulled his face down and gave him a big kiss, "Are you going to be a good boy for Jeffrey Nero, RVD, and Anderson?"

He nodded mutely and that was just too cute for her.

"Okay darling!" she petted his face and kissed him roughly, "I KNOW what a good boy you will be! I love you, Jamie!"

"I love you too, Baby Doll" he said sweetly though Jeff fucking knew better. That glint in James's eye was anything but angelic.

…

Slamming every phonebook on her kitchen table desperately Taylor scrambled about thumbing through the white pages because she just couldn't fucking take it anymore.

"FUCK fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…!" biting her thumbnail with one hand, she perused through the inconceivably thin pages searching for the address she wanted.

When she had first discovered Rich Boy about to get himself killed she thought it was funny, how hopeless and pathetic that poor little bastard was, but over time and careful observation she knew she couldn't handle the doof anymore. HE couldn't handle himself anymore. Her little monologue had simply gone in one ear and out the other because the dude just would not fucking listen. He wouldn't listen to shit from anyone because he was stubborn. He was a stubborn little shit who always assumed he was right and didn't want to hear a damn thing about it from anyone. No one tried to help him probably under threat of death considering all those new rumors about the Lawson patriarch caging precious gem Mindy Stratus like a songbird. The girl lived her life in a god damn cage, and if anyone could somehow break through to that nutcase of a stepson it was her. She'd known and idolized Mindy since she was five, so from observing her and all the pointless bullshit and horrific scandal surrounding her it was obvious the woman was capable of anything. She truly was a living miracle, so if anyone could potentially pull Rich Boy out of this slump it was her, all Taylor would have to do is somehow pry at the brass wire surrounding her with a crowbar.

It's a sin to cage a bird, beautiful as they are they deserve to be free to sing and fly wherever they please. Nothing so sublime should be cooped up forever only for one to enjoy…she was Mindy fucking Stratus and deserved to be freed. Miranda meant 'admired' and Marie meant 'beloved', which she was. She was so loved that every man she ever fell in love with kept her locked away from the world and it wasn't right. The inconceivably portentous beauty she possessed equaled that of a raven…one that would fly on her own nevermore.

"Lawson, Lawson, Lawson, where are you?" curling her lips she tucked some stringy hip-length blonde hair behind her ear and chewed the cap on her pen while searching.

Her fingers drummed the pages as she skimmed down for the name yet all her thoughts were of Rich Boy. What he was doing, who he had gone to…it all scared her so much because she did have something significant for the guy. She cared more than she wanted to think about though he could try to deny it until he was dead being the stubborn little shit that he was. He couldn't even realize all this was his own fault, but he was going to die…and he would die fast. He was killing for drugs, stealing for drugs; selling his own body for drugs it was just too much. Obviously he wasn't too built for the streets and needed to be taken off them. Living with her wasn't the answer as much as she wanted it to be. The boy needed to go home.

"Lawson, Lawson, Lawson, LAWSON!" keeping her finger on the name she circled the address and phone number, now sitting and debating whether it was right to actually call or not.

Of course calling to inform them of Cooper's condition would seem practical, but with this psychotic family who knew. Mindy could be chained to the wall for all she knew, and telling by James's size he was definitely capable of doing so. Maybe they would pick up, not know who the fuck she was, and just hang up on her, but who knew. Who honestly knew, showing up at the door was a bad thing as well. Easily she could be turned down unless she somehow got a hold of Mindy. Telling by the way Cooper spoke about her, she knew Mindy loved Cooper something scary. She'd also obviously read tabloids of Cooper and Mindy following each other everywhere the two were inseparable.

The way she saw it she was damned both ways, but she had to somehow come to a decision and come to one fast because this was Rich Boy's life she was toying with. She could always catch a cab and get dropped off at the door, or she could pick up the phone and get hung up on…she decided to plead her case in the more favorable setting.

…

"But Aunt BARBIE!" Scarlett whined with a stamp of her foot inside of her and Thorn's private bathroom where she sat waiting for Kelly to give her a blowout and blow it curly because her hair was naturally pin-straight, "Thorn ALWAYS goes first!"

"Do NOT!" the other twin shouted while wrinkling her nose and shaking her head, "SCARLETT always likes to HOG people and LIES because SHE thinks she's the prettiest!"

"Because I AM!" Scarlett replied vainly while checking her reflection in the mirror, but Thorn could only sneer.

"We're IDENTICAL, stupid!"

"Hey!" Kelly shouted and got both of their attentions, "Don't call each other names, guys stop it. You're both such little rockstars I love it"

"MOMMY is teaching me guitar" Scarlett nodded while sticking her nose in the air at Thorn, "Meaning I will be the only person worth my weight in salt of the two of us"

"Because they will all be staring at me as the pretty one" Thorn agreed and Kelly could only sigh. What could she honestly say or do? Oxa sat there with Thorn just watching the whole process unfold. The twin fights were always fun, yet the two were identical so they finished the other's sentences. Mainly the issue was the language which flew back and forth between the two five-year-olds. Since James and Mindy never watched their language, neither did the kids. All of them cussed like sailors and it was simply appalling as a babysitter to hear the way the kids spoke to one another. They thought it was no big deal at all.

The doorbell rang.

"Oooo! I got it! I got it! I got it!" Connor stumbled his way to the door with Tryg right at his heels waving some kind of stick to try and jab it at Connor so he'd get there first.

"No! No! I got it I got it!" Tryg spilled out from between his legs and jiggled the handle to be pushed aside by Connor and the young man beat the toddler to it, pulling open the door to see the trashiest-looking teenager he'd ever come across standing meekly in the doorway. "Whoaaa…!" Tryg's eyes got big and he just gawked at the teenaged girl with hip-length blonde hair, heavy black makeup surrounding her eyes, and thin as a rail. "What ARE you?"

"I don't…" eyeballing the blonde Connor shook his head, "I dunno, KELLYYYY! KELLY! KELLY WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Don't go to him" Thorn warned her when Kelly shrugged and felt like she had no choice.

"Honey I have to…" Kelly frowned and ran her hands over the damp hair of the twins, "I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

The twins reluctantly exchanged glances and nodded.

"Thanks a bunch" off she went barreling down the hallways towards the main stairs, running down them to see Connor and Tryg just staring at the lithe blonde lingering in the doorway. Kelly was honestly scared shit, "May I…" her lips pouted and her brow furrowed, "HELP you…? In anyway?"

Taylor stared at the beautiful blonde in the hallway and gulped, "I…" her voice came out as a dead croak she was so nervous, "I'm sorry, I…" she frowned and shrugged, "I-is this the Lawson residence?"

"Yeah…" swallowing hard Kelly nodded, "Why?" Protectively she stepped closer to Tryg and Connor (mainly Tryg he was a baby) and placed her hands on her hips.

"Um" her large blue eyes flashed about she didn't know how to say this, "I was…wondering if maybe Mindy was around…"

"Who are you" it was a demand from Kelly, not a question.

"M-my name is Taylor Michel"

"Great" Kelly nodded sarcastically, "You want an autograph or something?" Looking over Taylor's wardrobe choice she couldn't help it, "Looks like you're dressed the part"

"Listen…" Taylor's voice hardened as she began to muster the courage to speak, "I NEED to talk to Mindy"

"Did you make an appointment?" Kelly almost laughed this was so pathetic and Taylor sniffled and shook her head, "Then get out. I don't know WHO you are-"

"But I know where Cooper is" she nodded a bit victoriously, knowing that would catch Kelly's attention, "He's been living with me in my apartment and he's dying. I NEED Mindy to take him home, he won't listen to anybody else, PLEASE!"

"Well…" Kelly sighed and shrugged, "I'm sorry but she's not home now…" she knew Mindy would kill her if she turned this chick away though if she held anything regarding Cooper, "but come in and shoot your crap so I can call and tell her the glorious news."

With that the door was opened and in Taylor went nervously.


	57. Chapter 57

"Look at him," Ken said as he, Rob and Jeff all eyed James like he was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Mindy had left him in order to do her thing with Taryn so now it was only a matter of time before the troublemaking started. Ken had met James when he had been feuding with Mark and not only had he witnessed the antics James had gotten into the one time he managed to sneak into the Smackdown locker room despite his lifelong ban but he had heard all kinds of horror stories from Shawn Michaels. Back in the day James and the Hart Foundation had run wild on absolutely everyone and seeing as how Shawn was the big prima donna back in those days, he became James's bitch by default. And while Ken had found going out and having a drink with James was fun, being the one in charge of him was not shit he wanted on his plate. "He's plotting shit."

Jeff nodded in agreement. "I know. Mindy gave me the whole he's an angel speech-"

"Yeah I think we all got that one," Rob concurred. "And I love her to death but uh…can I just say angel my ass?"

Ken snorted. That summed James up perfectly. He hadn't done anything yet but it was obvious it was all just a matter of time now. The question was, what the hell were they going to do to keep him at least a tiny bit under control? This was their work place, they couldn't just let him run wild and do whatever he felt like. But they also knew that stopping him was not something that could be easily done by anyone. As of now, the only one who really had any kind of control over him was Mindy, and she wouldn't make him behave because she was under the belief he was perfectly well behaved as it was. And telling her otherwise was suicide, so they were all fucked from that end.

"You think maybe we should tie him down?" Rob whispered.

Jeff just about gave the older man a slap. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what Min would do to us if she came back and found her precious Jamie tied down? We would be dead. Dead dead dead dead dead."

"And dismembered for good measure," Ken added.

"Okay okay," Rob said, holding up his hands in defeat. "Chill people. It was just a suggestion."

James chuckled to himself as his three babysitters continued to talk amongst themselves. They were all very very amusing to him. They knew they were fucked and he was sure that he knew that they knew it. And he was also sure he knew that not only did he enjoy the fact that he knew that they knew they were fucked, but he was taking a childlike glee in it. There was just something about being in a wrestling locker room that brought out the troublemaker side of him. He didn't know what it was really and he really didn't care to know; enjoying his own created mayhem was just fun and he always rolled with it.

"Maybe we should get him good and distracted," Rob suggested, which was a much better idea than his bondage one. "You know, so he won't go and do anything bad."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Jeff asked.

"We put you in the dryer to shrink you, give you breast implants, slap a wig on you and have you be Mindy," Ken blurted out. "She distracts him pretty damn well."

Jeff's mouth dropped in shock. "What? Why do I have to be Min?"

"Well let's face it Nero, you're the most girly out of the three of us," Ken replied as Rob nodded in agreement.

"It's the hips," James helpfully chimed in. "You have girly hips."

Jeff let out a loud whine and stomped his foot as Rob and Ken laughed at his expense. "I do not have girly hips!" He looked down at himself and began checking himself over to make sure of that. "Do I?"

"Oh yeah," James confirmed. "Hips don't lie boy. Just ask…well I don't remember who the fuck she is but her hips move all weird and shit so she should know what she's talking about." He began to twiddle his thumbs together, bored with just making his babysitters wait for him to start causing trouble. It was time to actually get going on the whole thing. He glanced up and down the hallway as innocently as he could while taking a straw and its wrapper out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Jeff asked, noticing what James was up to.

"Nothing…" James lied.

Nobody bought that one for a single second. Ken decided to take initiative and tried to direct James's attention somewhere else. "Come on, let's-"

James didn't wait for him to finish. He just took off, ripping off a good chunk of the straw wrapper up and sticking it in his mouth so he could get it nice and wet. Someone was going to be the victim of a spitball because…well he just felt like making someone the victim of it. The only question was, who would he pick?

"Damn it I did not sign up for this!" Jeff grumbled as he, Rob and Ken all grabbed on to James and tried to pull him back. Their efforts really did no good though. He just swatted them away like they were flies or something and it was actually really frustrating. He was just so big that there was no stopping him when he was so determined to have his way. They were getting all kinds of weird looks but the "babysitters" were too busy to notice and James just didn't care. He had found himself the perfect victim: Hulk Hogan. He had never been a Hogan fan. Not ever. He thought the guy was completely overrated and just annoying in general so this was really too good for him to pass up.

"James don't-" Jeff's protest was futile because James fired the spitball at his will and actually managed to hit the center of Hulk's head from all the way across the room. Ken, Rob and Jeff all paled but James just laughed and felt oh so proud of himself.

"Who in the hell did that?" Hulk asked, wiping off the back of his head in disgust and looking around for the culprit.

"Oh fuck me," Jeff groaned. He shouldn't have agreed to do this. James had not only killed his brother but was now going to get him fired. This was just fucking wonderful.

"Ssshhh, act natural," Rob said in his most chilled voice. "You'll give us away Hardy."

"Yeah Hardy, chillax," James said, ruffling Jeff's hair just to irritate him even more. He didn't know why he was really in the mood to mess with Jeff in particular; he just was going with it, like he did with almost all of his other impulses. "Take a pill, smoke a joint and-oooh, food!" He went over to the catering table and began to look at all the stuff they had to eat. He was disappointed to see that there was nothing he liked so with one swoop of his large hand he knocked a good chunk of it off out of spite.

"James!" Jeff shouted, trying to be authoritative and put his foot down with the older man but it did absolutely no good. James was bored and had reverted back to child mode so when Jeff started to say his name again, he started grabbing food and just chucking it at people. He wasn't even aiming at anyone in particular; he was just compulsively throwing food and making some like Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky duck for cover, while making some like the Motor City Machine Guns start throwing food back because they were always up for childlike antics like that. Hogan and a few others looked annoyed as fuck and tried to restore order but who was going to go up against James? The sheer size of him was enough to intimidate most and the ones who weren't as bothered by it didn't want Mindy Stratus all over their ass for fucking with her "precious" Jamie. That was just trouble they didn't want to deal with.

"Well look on the bright side," Rob said weakly ask Jeff smacked his forehead in exasperation and Ken tried to think of ways they could possibly explain all this to Dixie while also trying to think of what they were going to say to Mindy when she got backstage because their version of watching James wasn't going so well.

"Bright side?" Jeff said dubiously. "What's the bright side to this may I ask?"

Rob pointed to James and grinned. "He's having fun. And if he's having fun then he'll be happy. And if he's happy then Mindy's happy and then it'll be all cool."

"Yeah well she better get us out of whatever trouble we're going to be in with Dixie for not controlling him," Ken said as he ducked something that came flying by his head. "Or I'm going to be PISSED!"

…

Chasing down one last high was hard as hell to do when Cooper had no real idea where the hell that dealer was or who else he could really score from. This was the shit he had not missed at all. He fucking hated the waiting that always seemed to think it had to take place before his next high. It was fucking bullshit. He needed to get his fix and he needed it right then and there. He couldn't even think about killing himself until he got it. He craved it so badly that it felt like his blood, his heart, his very _soul_ was calling for it. It went beyond just a physical and mental addiction. It was the only thing that he had that wouldn't leave him. It was with him all the time. James couldn't take it away from him. No no no, it would be with him until he died, whether it be from suicide or overdose.

Shivering and feeling the effects of withdrawal coming closer and closer, he realized that his efforts in finding something to get high on were pretty much all in vain. There was nobody around that was holding anything. He had to do something else and he had to do it now. Whimpering softly, he trudged forwards, unsure about what the fuck he was going to do until he saw a drug store up ahead. "Fuck yes," he said gratefully. He forced himself to move even faster even though his legs felt all wobbly and shit. The place was closed but he didn't give a shit. He did a half ass check to see if the coast was clear and then he picked the locks on the place, taking a lot longer than he normally would because his hands were shaking. "Come on come on…yes!" He pushed the now unlocked door open and went inside, bolting to behind the counter where they kept all the prescriptions. He wasn't even reading the labels to see what they all were. He just opened the first bottle he could and spilled the contents all over the cold flat surface of the counter and snorting it up as fast as he possibly could. He got a nice head rush from that and he quickly grabbed another bottle and repeated that action before sinking down to the ground and curling up in the fetal position.

"Mom," he cried out deliriously, so fucking far gone that he could barely even see. He knew he probably just mixed his own death cocktail but he didn't care about that. He just cared about seeing Mindy again because she wasn't fucking there and he needed her and it wasn't fair that she was being kept from him. "Momma help me please Momma…"


	58. Chapter 58

**Cathy**: He is, I agree. I feel bad for that whole lot too. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! (and yeah, stupid site… *shakes head and kicks it*) **NeroAnne**: Babysitting James is like the last job you ever want to be volunteered for. For a guy in his forites he behaves worse than most kids. And poor Jeff, not only did he gets tuck with James duty but now he won't live down the whole girly hips thing. And yeah, that Cooper thing is just too sad : ( **firewing pegasus**: Yeah, considering what he did to Matt one would think an apology is in order; only issue is, James isn't sorry and don't care to pretend to be. So instead he drives Jeff nuts and torments him about his body. Poor Jeff *shakes head*

…

"So on a scale of one to I suck what would you give me?" Taryn nervously twirled her hair while walking backstage with Mindy, who telling by the look on her face simply did not want to hear anything about it.

"No, no, NO Taryn!" she sighed and squeezed Taryn's hand in hers, "I think you were the BEST and if you do not get the job I will fight a bitch until she drops off the roster and gives you a spot"

Taryn hugged Mindy's short little arm and laughed so hard her eyes were watering.

"So is THAT what I'm doing?" Taryn giggled and Mindy nodded with wide eyes.

"Oh yes. You fucking fight a bitch if you think she's gunning for your spot, you hear me?"

"Fight a bitch…" Taryn repeated with a smirk and a nod, "got it."

"Good"

"I would LOVE to know where your pugnacious little ways came from"

"Meh" Mindy shrugged and ran a hand over Taryn's long blonde hair, "I've been around the block"

"Of Toronto, Ontario, Canada?" she snorted and waved her off, "Yeah you REALLY spent time in the projects."

"My basement felt purdy darn bad"

"Didn't you lose your virginity in a basement?" Taryn frowned but immediately Mindy waved dismissingly.

"Hearsay" she sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "My trashy ass did it in a hotel room…how about yourself, Miss Darling?"

"I ahh…" she curled her plump lips as they got further backstage when the all-too familiar cry came out of literally nowhere and scared the hell out of both girls.

"BABY DOLL!"

Taryn never saw Mindy turn so fast in her life, her eyes becoming all wide and puffy at the sight of James walking towards her with RVD, Jeff, and Anderson on his heels.

"JAMIE!"

"BABY DOLL!"

Her legs hooked around his waist and up she went so their foreheads could press, but he was already kissing her.

"Jamie…" her fingers dug into his hair and they kissed again, "Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, darling I MISSED you, I did! I" they kissed harder and her hips gave a bit of a roll into his before moaning into his mouth because he had been in the early stages of responding, "I love you Jamie, I love you so fucking much I missed you"

"Weren't you only gone for over an hour?" Anderson frowned when she shot him the finger, RVD only able to sigh and shake his head at Anderson.

"Man, you know better than to even hint to the wild beast that her perfect little angel is anything but" RVD sighed but Jeff frowned.

"Dixie is going to be up our ASSES for watching that monstrosity"

"Why?" pulling back from James a bit Mindy let his head drop playfully to her shoulder and kept her legs locked around him because she wanted him so badly. That one hour they were parted had made her crazy and her entire little body was screaming for contact with his. "What did he do?"

"Nothing, Baby Doll!" he frowned and nuzzled into her neck harder, but Anderson wasn't anywhere near convinced.

"The bastard hits Hogan with a spitball and starts a god damn food fight just for the sake of being a pain in everyone's ass!"

Mindy gasped and covered a hand over her mouth in astonishment, "Oh NO, Jamie! You did not…!"

"I couldn't help myself, Baby Doll" he cooed lighter than the air, placing slow sensual kisses all over her neck and she released a soft pleasurable moan while dry humping him as discreetly as she could, sending chills down his spine because he wanted her too. "The food just looked so tempting and catering did not make anything I like, Baby, they did not"

"I am sure they didn't" she sighed as the three babysitter's jaws dropped.

"It's not FAIR, Baby Doll I HAD to throw it" he kissed her neck more and just let his head sit in the crook of her neck.

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding!" Jeff hissed with a shake of the head at her and scowled, "Do you have any idea what a complete and total ASS he is?"

"Is it because of your girly hips?" James pointed out meekly as Jeff looked ready to kill, and Mindy found it rather interesting too.

"Girly hips?" one glance and she saw the truth, throwing her head into James's and laughing, "That's GOOD Jamie!"

Jeff turned about eight shades of red until RVD clapped his back with a smile.

"Don't worry man, some people LIKE guys with chick anatomy"

The look that Jeff gave him promised all kinds of death and he tried to ignore it.

"You fucking owe us BIG TIME, Stratusfear!" Anderson warned her with a finger pointing her way, which she didn't like at all and kissed James's head.

"I already paid you in advance and I do not owe you SHIT if you wanna take that god damn tone with me one more time teeth will be missing!"

"Alright I'm sorry, I'm SORRY Stratus, alright?" Anderson was already getting in her face and she narrowed her eyes before eyeballing him and nodding.

"I guess you can come with me and Jamie to dinner"

James looked quite scandalized and shook his head, "But BABY DOLL…!" he whined and shook his head at the three, "It's OUR date! I don't WANT them on our date!"

"Relax, baby…" she smiled warmly and gently stroked a hand down his cheek, "I am fucking you in the bathroom anyway I am so fucking hot for you."

…

"Mmm Jamie…" Mindy moaned from her spot against the cold tiled wall of the men's bathroom as James rammed into her at a pace which they both liked.

They had decided to drag the other three along to the diner with them after the show, but a promise was a promise. The three knew better than to come anywhere near the restrooms when Mindy suggested James look at a 'rash' for her. Yeah, right. The only rashes she'll have are on her lower back from being fucked into it so hard.

"Baby Doll…" he groaned into her neck and switched his mouth to one of her breasts which he'd pulled out and began sucking on it, loving the sharp cry which escaped her throat, "talk to me, Baby Doll fucking talk to me."

"Jamie…" curling her lips in and holding both of his shoulders for balance, she moaned happily and sighed, "so fucking hard, Jamie…! You are perfect, your cock is perfect Jamie I love you I love you, I love you"

"Then" he panted and licked her nipple more before watching his cock slide in and out of her with ease, groaning every time he pushed back in though because it was so tight, "tell me what you want me to do, Baby Doll…" he paused a moment to pant and nod, "tell me what you want."

"Harder, Jamie!" she begged even though a man had pushed open the bathroom door neither one cared, "fuck me harder please"

"Like THIS?" he complied and she moaned loudly, throwing her head back and crying his name once he got her to cum and finished off moments later.

"I love you, Jamie darling I do…" she hugged him close and sniffled, actually crying and he nodded along while kissing the top of her head.

"Not nearly the way I love you."

…

Upon pulling into the driveway James and Mindy found Kelly nervously standing there with Elizabeth in her arms and James immediately jumped out of the car to grab her. Separation anxiety was kicking in for him because he'd been away from the baby for far too long.

"Da da da da da!" she shouted while reaching one arm out for him to kiss and the other was coiled around the sacred Lammy. James grinned while giving her fingers play bites and then a big kiss on her lips followed by her next command which was, "LAM-MY!"

"LAMMY, Lizzie Bear?" he cooed with the biggest smile on his face and the baby was persistent.

"LAMMY."

"Lammy gets a BIG kiss then" he nodded and kissed the slobber-covered lamb before kissing Elizabeth again, "and a BIGGER one for Lizzie Bear because Daddy loves you"

She squealed the moment he nommed on her face while Kelly took the opportunity to lead Mindy into the house quickly without being noticed.

"You're not gonna believe this" Kelly shrugged and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, "I didn't even know what to think"

"Who did you let into my house, Babs?" Mindy sighed and lifted Chelsea the moment she ran to the door while moving into the kitchen, where Taylor meekly scoffed the ground with her high-heeled boot and almost died at the sight of Mindy entering the kitchen.

"Umm…" was all Mindy could really get out before looking to Kelly, "help?"

"Listen to her" was all Kelly could say while turning to take her leave, "I'll keep James outside, you seriously have a lot to take into consideration please"

"Are you looking for a record deal?" she had to ask that obvious question, and Taylor humbly shook her head with a gulp.

"I-I came t-to talk to you about Cooper…" she nodded with a hard swallow, "M-my name is Taylor Michel I live in the city"

"Okay"' Mindy nodded and hugged Chelsea, surveying Taylor with her eyes and the teenager could only buckle at the knees because her idol was standing there and she was actually in Mindy Stratus's kitchen telling her the worst news she'd probably ever want to hear.

"I-I found Cooper on the street and he's been living in my apartment with me…" she swallowed hard and curled her lips nervously, "but I can't control him anymore" she shook her head and clamped a hand in her hair, "He's been snorting all sorts of drugs and making himself into a complete prostitute-murderer for it and there's just no stopping him. I tried talking to him, I tried yelling and screaming too it just isn't working! He needs HELP please I came here to ask you because you're the only one who can! I KNOW he hurt you, but I know how you feel about him and you have got to hear the way he will just sit there and talk about you all day, Mindy, it's heartbreaking. He doesn't want anybody but you to save him and its pathetic and sad but he's dying without you, please!"

Mindy's face remained uncharacteristically stoic and expressionless, staring into space for a moment before drifting her eyes to Taylor once again.

"Why did you not come to me sooner?"

"Because…" she shrugged and started crying from anxiety, "You're Mindy Stratus! You're the biggest name in the world I can't just-"

"A ring on my doorbell would do" Mindy nodded and shook her head with a bit of a scowl, "You gave been taking care of him?"

"Y-yes" Taylor nodded with a sniffle, "I've been doing what I can Mindy, please if you don't come with me NOW he'll die!"

Immediately Mindy placed Chelsea on the ground and ran a hand over the top of her head, "Baby I need you to go distract Daddy, okay?"

"Mommy" Chelsea nodded and gave her mother a kiss on the lips before sprinting out of the house to go find James, allowing Mindy to snag the keys and look to Taylor.

"You show me exactly where he is."

…

"I knew he wouldn't be here…" Taylor sighed while glancing about her empty apartment with an irritated Mindy standing not far behind her, "He's gotta be around here somewhere he's too weak to go that far"

Mindy's phone rang and she groaned before pressing send and shifting her weight in aggravation, "What would you like from my life?"

"Mrs. Lawson?"

"Yeah?"

"This is Officer Curtis of L.V.P.D…we have your stepson Cooper down at the station after breaking and entering to steal prescription medication"

"Oh fuck me I will be right there…!" turning to Taylor, Mindy grabbed her arm and bolted for the door, "They got him let's go!"

…

Barely even able to open his eyes, Cooper groaned and whimpered to catch a silhouette of hip-length raven hair coming his way with a panicked expression across her face, and after taking one glance at him in the holding cell she screamed.


	59. Chapter 59

**Esha Napoleon **and** cathy**: Thank you!

…

"Daddy!" Chelsea said, handing him yet another piece of paper so he could draw yet another picture. She had taken her mother's orders to heart and was doing everything in her power to keep James as distracted as possible. It was easy for her to do because she liked all of his attention on her anyway. He was her daddy and he was her world. Yes she recognized Mindy; she was the only other one Chelsea even began to really care about but Daddy was Daddy. "Again."

"Again Princess?" James said, holding Elizabeth with one arm and using his free one to smooth down Chelsea's blonde hair and accept the paper she was offering him. "You want Daddy to draw some more?"

"Yes!" she confirmed before returning to the picture she was working so carefully on. She was drawing him and her together with a bunch of bunnies and when she noticed that James was looking at her work she smiled and pointed to the drawing of him. "Daddy!"

James smiled and nodded. "Yes that's me. You draw me so well Princess."

Chelsea pointed to the drawing of herself and then pointed to her chest. "ME!"

"Yes Princess, that is you."

She pointed to the bunnies next. "Bunny hop! Hop!"

"Yes! Bunnies hop." James kissed the top of her head affectionately. "You're so smart Princess."

Elizabeth eyed Chelsea unhappily before switching her gaze to James. "ME!" she shouted impatiently, making James's eyes light up right away.

"You want kissies too Lizzie Bear?" he asked.

"Da da da da," she babbled, which he took as a yes. "LAMMY!" she shouted, holding up her precious lamb once he was done giving her kisses.

"Of course Lammy gets loves too," he assured her. "Lammy will always get loves."

Chelsea frowned at that interaction before getting up and grabbing on to James and shooting Elizabeth an unhappy look. "MY daddy!" she informed Elizabeth. They had gone over this so many times that everyone knew the argument by heart. "MINE!"

"No!" Elizabeth shot back, utilizing one of the few words she could say.

"Yes!" Chelsea shot back. "My daddy!"

"Hey now, there's enough Daddy to go around," James tried to assure his arguing daughters. He didn't want them to fight but how could they not? They both wanted to be the apple to James's eye and had no intention of sharing that position with anyone else. "You don't have to fight."

Amber shook her head and plopped down on the couch. "I don't think they want to listen," she observed wisely.

James pouted his lips and wrapped his arm around Chelsea so he could hug both her and Elizabeth at the same time. "I know," he said in defeat. "You think they'll grow out of this?"

Amber thought about it for two seconds before shaking her head. "Nope. They'll get worse."

"Oh yeah? And how do you figure that?"

"Because Chelsea don't want to share you and Elizabeth is going to be exactly like you, minus your daddy status," Amber replied. "I don't think you know what you've unleashed on the world." She was joking…sort of. She loved James to death but even she could acknowledge having a smaller version of him running around could potentially spell all kinds of trouble.

James shook his head stubbornly. "Lizzie Bear is a total angel." He looked down at Elizabeth so she could reinforce this. "Isn't that right sweetie?"

Elizabeth stared at Amber before blowing a raspberry at her and then snagging a crayon out of James's hand so she could attempt to eat it.

"No no Lizzie Bear," James said, quickly taking it away and bouncing her lightly because she automatically began to fuss. "We don't eat the crayons."

Elizabeth didn't care for that answer. She continued to fuss and tried to reach for the crayon again but Chelsea snatched it and shook her head. "No," she scolded. "No eat." She grabbed another piece of paper and began to color on it. "Color." She made the cutest little frustrated face when Elizabeth just stared at her like she was insane. "THIS-" She waved the crayon around before coloring again "color!"

"See Lizzie Bear?" James said with a grin. "You color with crayons."

Elizabeth didn't give a shit. Now that she realized that Daddy wasn't going to let her eat the crayons she resumed chewing on Lammy's face instead. Amber wrinkled her nose as she watched her baby sister and slowly shook her head. "That thing is going to start stinking soon Daddy. You're going to have to wash it eventually."

"I know," James said, watching Chelsea color her own picture for a moment before looking at Amber. "I don't think she's going to like that though. She doesn't like ever putting him down."

"So I've noticed." Amber got up from the couch and got down on the floor so she could snuggle up against James too. "Were you a good boy when you were with Mommy and Aunt Taryn?"

"I thought I was," James replied honestly. "I don't think my babysitters would agree with that."

Amber snickered. "Do you care though?"

"Of course not! I thought I was a good boy and Mommy agreed so that's all that matters." He smoothed down her hair and smiled. "Oh and if Jeff comes over again, he's got girly hips. You need to know this."

Amber raised her eyebrows. "Girly hips?"

"Yes. He's got girly hips. Do with that what you will."

"Okay Daddy." Amber reached up and smoothed down his hair even though it was already smoothed down most of the way. "Did you and Mommy have a nice dinner afterwards?"

"Oh yeah," James said happily, making Amber shake her head.

"You did her in the bathroom didn't you?"

James's jaw dropped in shock. "Amber Rose!"

"What?" Amber said innocently. "You guys do it EVERYWHERE!"

"Well yeah…but you're our baby. You're supposed to pretend to not know about that stuff."

"Are you going to pretend to not know when I get a boyfriend and start doing it?"

James immediately sputtered and shook his head vehemently. "No no no, don't even talk like that. I don't want to hear that." If he had his way all of his daughters were going to die virgins because men were idiots. He was a member of the race he knew what he was talking about.

Amber giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth in such a Mindy like fashion that James had to hug her for it. "Does it upset your ears Daddy?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "It upsets my ears very much."

"Would you get upset if Tryg talked about wanting to be with girls?"

"I think he's a little young to start doing that so-"

"But if you don't get upset about him doing it with girls that won't be fair," Amber informed him, folding her arms over her chest and giving him a disapproving look. "You would be a hypocrite and me and Thorn and Scarlett and Chelsea and Lizzie Bear would all have to become sluts to get back at you." She kept her serious face for about ten seconds and then the terrified look on James's face became too much for her to take. "Daddy I'm kidding!" she assured him. "We wouldn't ever do that to you."

"I hope not," James said, hugging all three of his daughters tightly and trying to get over the scary thoughts that had been put inside his head. "I would be killing a whole mess of boys if that happened."

"I think you're going to be killing a lot of boys when we all get older," Amber stated wisely.

James nodded and clutched his baby girls protectively. "I think you're right." He didn't want her to be because the thought of any boy near his daughters made him want to punch someone in the face but the reality of the situation was that it was eventually going to happen. _No,_ he vowed to himself. _Fuck that shit. I'm not going to let that happen. Any boy that comes near them is going to die a slow, painful death. I'll make sure of that._

…

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Mindy yelled, literally slapping the hell out of Cooper as she drove. She and Taylor had bailed him out of jail and now they were in the car with Mindy at the wheel but she was really not paying any attention to the road. She was too busy trying to literally beat the sense back into Cooper's brain. "Did you think that stuff was candy? Did you think everything was going to magically get better?" She scowled when he didn't respond to her. "Do you even know what you took?" No, of course he didn't. He just put random things into his system like a total moron. He was lucky he hadn't fucking died because she would have brought him back just to give him the ass kicking of his life. "God damn it Cooper! You fucking answer me right now!"

Cooper mumbled something completely incoherent. He could hear her for the most part, although the sound of her voice was pretty muffled. And he couldn't really open his eyes at all; he just wanted to pass the fuck out but every time he tried Mindy would hit him again. "Mmm…" He tried to say "Momma" but he couldn't even get that out. Not yet. Whimpering and trying to cry even though his eyes weren't working right, he reached out and desperately tried to hug her arm. All he got for his efforts though was a very hard slap to the face, which took several long minutes to even sink in for him. He was so far gone that he was having a hard time knowing what planet he was on, let alone feeling the pain caused by that slap.

"How could you fucking do this?" Mindy asked, tears streaming down her face because she was so upset and angry with him. "What the hell is your problem? I have to have strangers come to my house to tell me you're killing people and whoring yourself out for drugs? What the FUCK are you thinking? You could have a disease you son of a bitch! Do you want to have boils on your nuts and pus coming out of your dick? Would that make you happy?"

Taylor put her hand over her mouth, unsure about how to act during all of this. She had been keeping her silence because she did not want to piss Mindy off but if Mindy didn't pull over or wait to kick Cooper's ass for when they got to wherever they were going they were going to wreck. There was very little doubt about that. Mindy was driving way too erratically to avoid it.

"Momma.." Cooper finally managed to croak out. He was doing his best to get over to her so he could snuggle up against her and he was just getting the fuck smacked out of him for it. It was making him cry and whimper like a baby but he wasn't doing it because of the pain. No, he was more upset that she wouldn't hold him. She could keep yelling and screaming and hitting him all she wanted but he needed her to just hold him while she did it.

"Red light…" Taylor said nervously, finally choosing to speak because they were barreling towards an intersection with no sign of slowing down. "Red light….red light…oh fuck me." She braced herself for a crash that didn't come. At the last second Mindy jerked the wheel and pulled over to the side of the road before coming to a screeching halt. She placed the car in park before grabbing Cooper's face, literally digging her nails into her flesh and leaving little half moon marks all over the place.

"You're so STUPID!" she shrieked. She quickly let go of his face so she could grab a hold of his shirt and begin shaking him. "I HATE you! I HATE you how could you do this to yourself?"

"I wanna die," he moaned miserably. "I wanna-OW!" He had gotten punched right in the mouth for that one.

"FUCK YOU!" Mindy screamed, becoming absolutely unhinged and scaring the fuck out of Taylor. "What the fuck did I tell you about that shit?"

"Mommy-"

"I love you! Connor loves you! Doesn't that fucking matter to you at all? What the fuck do you think we're going to do if you keep doing this and then one day actually die you IDIOT?"

Cooper couldn't even begin to answer that. He just hung his head and sobbed, looking just completely pathetic in the process. Mindy immediately ripped him over to her and hugged him for dear life, sobbing just as loudly as he was. Taylor blinked, not sure of what to make of the sudden change in tactics. She kept her silence though, doing her best to just fade as much into the background as possible. It was like they had forgotten she existed and she wasn't going to rush to change their mind quite yet.

Cooper clung to Mindy for dear life, resting his head against her breast plate and soaking the top half of her dress with tears. He didn't ever want to let her go. Not ever. It had been proven that he couldn't function without her. He was too weak and fucking pathetic to do it. He needed someone to always be taking care of him and he wanted-no no, NEEDED-it to be her. She was the only one that understood him and she was the only one that could save him. "I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I'm sorry Mommy I'm sorry. Don't hate me please don't hate me."

"Well then don't fucking DIE on me," Mindy said nastily, lovingly kissing the top of his head at the same time. "I fucking love you don't die on more or I'll hate you forever and ever." She gently ran her fingers through her hair, looking into his glassy and unfocused eyes and crying even more at the sight of them. He was so fucked up he probably wouldn't even remember this conversation later. It fucking broke her heart to see him like that but there was only so much she could really dwell on it at the moment. She had to make sure that he made it through the night without dying because there was no telling what kind of effect the shit he put in his system would have and then she had to get him clean. This shit was going to stop and if he didn't like it, she was just going to kick his ass and _make_ him like it.


	60. Chapter 60

**Esha Napoleon**: LOL yes they do. And with parents like that it's hard NOT to know that stuff. **NeroAnne**: Ever since these chapters have been written I look at Jeff and think about his girly hips XD Cooper and Mindy they are uh…well shit, Vermi and I have a hell of a time figuring out the complexity of that relationship but they definitely do have plenty of moments.

…

James sat at the kitchen table with Amber, Chelsea, and Elizabeth when the garage door was slammed open in such a way James stood in alarm before quickly handing the baby off to Amber so he could check it out.

"IN! NOW!" that feral growl came from the garage followed by a huge BANG! "NO!" Mindy growled at someone else, "Don't you TOUCH him you let him fall! You let him fucking fall! You fucking coke whore son of a BITCH!"

"Baby Doll…?" immediately James headed towards the racket to see Mindy literally dragging Cooper into the house by his hair with a worried Taylor right behind them, obviously feeling like a complete fish out of water and doing whatever it was Mindy instructed.

She was beyond lucky the rockstar kept her around as long as she did so now she was purely appeasing. Mindy was known for her volatile nature around the industry and she had enough to her name to do so. She never had to look for work, work always came to her and she had the authority and power to pick exactly what she would do, when, and where.

"YOU GET UP!" Mindy shrieked with a kick to Cooper's ribs, "YOU GET THE FUCK UP NOW OR I WILL BITE YOUR LEGS OFF!"

"Mommy…!" Cooper croaked with a whimper and a shake of the head, "I…" he coughed and tried but obviously was too weak, "I can't…"

"OH you bet your ass you CAN!" she screamed and smacked the back of his head while pushing him into the house roughly.

"Baby Doll!" seeing red, James immediately went to kick Cooper out of the house when he was suddenly met by a fierce set of blue eyes and she growled like a tigress.

"YOU stay away from ME!" a manicured finger pointed threateningly his way as she now managed with a signal to Taylor to bring Cooper to his feet and drag him towards the stairs, "I don't want a fucking WORD out of you, get the fuck away I don't care where!"

"I'm sorry!" yelping like a kicked puppy he tried to back away but clearly it wasn't fast enough for her so she shoved right past him and didn't even care to notice.

"Watch his head!" she warned Taylor quickly as the turned another corner, but then rethought that, "On second thought…" she shook her head firmly, "do not watch his head for he is a son of a BITCH and I hope he gets a concussion and DIES because I hate him so much!"

In horror James just stood there idle and watched the two women carry Cooper up the stairs before Mindy made Taylor let go and drop kicked Cooper right into his room, giving the girl an appreciative nod before slamming the door shut behind her. The screams and pained cries which came from that room were so frightening James didn't even want to imagine what was going on in there. As it was his one cardinal rule had been broken…that son of a bitch was back in the house. Not only was the rapist little shit in his house, but his wife had nearly taken his head off in the process of bringing him in. Though he figured she was just angry and didn't mean what she said, moments later she exited the room with that wild glaze still coating her eyes and looked to Taylor right away.

"Can ya watch him for a minute?" Mindy asked as a croak and instantaneously Taylor sprang at the order.

"Y-yeah Min, sure! Anything!"

Mindy nodded apathetically to that and went to leave, but something came over her and she stopped. As Taylor was about to enter the room she reached up and grasped Taylor's rail-thin arm so the teenager's attention was switched to her.

"Thank you" she whispered actually quite sincerely before nodding, "thank you for taking care of him."

"Oh god, please!" nervously Taylor began to sputter, her arms shaking and her teeth chattering every second, "I-it w-w-was t-the lease I could do, I only wish I"

"You're welcome would have sufficed" Mindy nodded stiffly before making sure that Taylor was in before storming down the steps to where James was desperately awaiting her.

"Baby" already he was panicking and hanging onto her arm, "I'm sorry, Baby please!"

"DON'T…" with barred teeth she tore her arm from his and snapped her face up to his, "touch me. Don't you FUCKING touch me this is all YOUR fault! Because a' YOUR FUCKING MOTHER" her finger went straight upstairs towards the general direction of Cooper's room, "That BABY is suffering! You hadda be all MAN and make him leave when" her eyes welled and she shoved him backwards in the kitchen though he didn't physically budge, "You KNEW he could not live all alone! You KNEW! You fucking KNEW he would die out there and what do you do?" she hissed, "What the fuck do you do? You KICK HIM OUT TO DIE! HOW DARE YOU!"

SLAP! Somehow since he was leaning down probably to hear her she slapped him right in the mouth in front of the kids.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"Please, sweetheart I'm so sorry, I really am, I-"

"DON'T fucking talk to me" the tone she used was so frightening it cracked, "You hear me? Don't…" her little body actually twitched a bit involuntarily, "you…fucking…talk to me I don't wanna hear it. This is" she opened the refrigerator and ripped out packs upon packs of ice, "YOUR fault…YOURS! You saw me taking care of him you should have KNOWN what I wanted but NO! YOUR selfish annoying need for dominance and proving points did not cave to what you knew I wanted! I do not ask you for much I fucking live to fucking appease you and make you love me when I know it is all BULLSHIT anyway but I keep trying…!" she swallowed hard and nodded, "But now I AM asking you something James…"

"Anything" he desperately pleaded though Mindy would have none of it.

"I am going to ask you to leave me alone…" silently she nodded, eyes deader than a doornail, "and I am going to ask you only once. If you DO try and talk to me…" she paused a moment before letting her eyes get big and hissed, "I WILL not hesitate to scream until you leave…because I already asked you once. I am not going to ask again. You tore this fucking family apart enough I am sick and tired of civil war. He may not be your son but he is blood to you and my children" the way she said 'my' children made him cringe, "and anyone with that relation is family enough to me and no son of mine will be living on the streets. As it is you completely ruined my life and took away the ONE THING I did with myself because YOU could not handle me losing weight like any other normal human, no" she shook her head sarcastically and shrugged, "YOU had to relate it to YOURSELF like you do everything else and now I have no career because of you. And I let that slide somehow" she snorted and clamped a hand in her hair, "I did…but not anymore. I do fucking everything you say and for WHAT?" she growled and pushed him though again he didn't move an inch, "WHAT good have you done for us? My stepson is a dying drug addict, I have no career, Connor is not speaking to me because of something YOU did, I have a hooker helping me upstairs, my children are all exposed to this, and YOU" her head cocked dangerously, "Instead of realizing what a shithead you were for abandoning him are going to actually MOVE to SAY something to me about bringing Cooper into the house. I do not care he is my age; he is not fit to live a SECOND alone! And you could live JUST FINE killing him off like any one of your other innocent fucking victims that I went along with for you because I LOVED you! You have become a fucking Nazi with my life just because you signed a piece of paper and because I KNOW you would NEVER have DARED try and pull this shit with fucking Marky or your precious Annabelle you take it all out on ME! If you hated me you shoulda SAID something! Do not torture me and my children because you had to settle! If you hated me and did not want me you should have TOLD ME instead of LEADING ME ON all this god damn time and I will fucking let you go! I REALLY do not fucking care anymore! You just hang onto me to make YOURSELF feel better and not because you want ME to feel better and I HATE it! It's FAKE! No WONDER everybody calls you the fuck out they see right through it! Not much longer I will be on the wrong end of your knife too and everybody will say that they told me so! Well FUCK THAT! I'm DONE!"

He was too hurt to even speak, but she didn't care. A smack to his jaw and up she went once more, completely unmoved by all that and Amber wasn't even truly surprised. She knew that was coming, it was all just a matter of the timeline. Mindy was famous for those pained, heated, contemptuous outbursts which always kicked people right where it hurt.

James though wasn't doing so well. He just stood there a minute, letting that all sink in and the kids knew what was coming. Elizabeth was already fussing and crying loudly in her sister's arms and Chelsea started sobbing too, giving Amber no choice but to sniffle and squeeze her eyes shut even though she knew it was coming. Anyone who knew anything about psychiatry would have known it was Mindy's schizophrenia making her draw paranoid conclusions, but any psychologist would have said that was a clear cry to end the relationship.

…

Watching Mindy come up the stairs not even moved at all that, Taylor frowned and quickly reached out to rub Mindy's back since she did hear that whole outburst and knew it was needed.

"If you need to talk…" Taylor whispered hoarsely and leaned down towards Mindy's ear, the whole stranger on a subway car appeal kicking in for the raven-haired rockstar and Mindy nodded along.

"Let me kick this little son of a bitch's ass and I will be there to give you my two-hundred-an-hour"

"Alright…" with a shaky breath Taylor nodded, "anything you'd like me to do or…?"

"Go smoke a cigarette outside your hands are shaking" Mindy pointed, but then froze and shook her head before pointing to Taylor's pocket, "Never mind. I want one too."

"I didn't know you smoked…?" Taylor's blue eyes softened and Mindy shrugged.

"Always a time to start."

…

Closing the door behind her Mindy flipped on the lights in Cooper's room and made him curl into a shivering ball, which she didn't even care for and stalked towards him.

"You are in your own fucking house stop being a drama bitch and get off the fucking floor."

Coughing and shaking violently, Cooper's fingers gripped the comforter to his bed which Mindy was pulling back and she patted the sheets for him to slide under before shaking her head and pulling his shirt off.

"You don't wanna wear anything you like for the next week or so…" her head shook and she ran her fingers through his hair, "I went through this with somebody I hated very much, only I hated him so I did not help him the way I am trying to help you…even though you do not deserve it you son of a bitch."

Cooper just grabbed her arms and pulled her down on the bed with him, coughing and clinging to her for dear life. For a moment she nodded and went along with it, placing kisses on the top of his head and holding him close before squeezing him even tighter and sniffling.

"Do you love me, Bub?"

"Mommy…" he nodded miserably and kept his face buried into her for warmth and comfort, which she gave him and kissed the top of his head again.

"Then I need you to be brave and promise me you will not give in on me during this whole bullshit process, alright?"

"Ye-yes Momma…" he coughed and nestled into her harder, but there really was no meat on her anymore so it didn't go anywhere.

"Withdrawal is very dangerous…" she slowly began to coach while petting his hair and kissing him, "do you think you can do it for me? Please?"

"I love you, Momma"

"It is HARD, Bub" she nodded with wide eyes to ensure she had his attention, "it is probably the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. All you will feel is cold, itchy, you will cry, you will spit, you will throw up all over the place, and you will not be able to sleep you will be in so much pain. You will scream all day and not want to eat. You will literally puke, cry, and sweat all of the shit out from your body."

"Okay…" with a sniffle he nodded, "okay Momma, okay…"

"I will be here for you every day, and I will try to make you comfortable if you swear to keep your promise…" her pinky went out and she looked him in the eye, "do you promise me you can do that?"

He forced a nod.

"Good boy" with a kiss to his forehead she stood up and headed towards the door, "It starts in a few hours and you will never feel the same way ever again."

…

With a sniffle she went out holding Taylor's arm and they stood in the driveway walking back and forth smoking cigarettes. Mindy coughed a lot since it was her first time but hey, it got the job done. Anything to kill her faster sounded like a grand plan to her.


	61. Chapter 61

**firewing pegasus: **Yeah that was just one gigantic kick to James, especially in his heart. The issue now is that she really didn't mean all that and he thinks she does…not a good thing, considering he's such a puppy dog for her. **Esha Napoleon**: Well at least your grandma finds humor in this. James certainly doesn't *pats his head* **Demonic Bastard Scorpio**: Oh yeah. It's very intense. And there will be more coming up before this is all said and done.

…

Amber sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She and the others had all followed James down to the basement. Everyone had heard Mindy's outburst because she had been so unbelievably loud about it and now they were all watching James, who was in the corner clutching Elizabeth for dear life. She was fussing like crazy but he wasn't even really comforting her, which was not a good sign. He never liked it when she fussed and always did everything in his power to make her feel better. Not this time though. He was just hugging her like she was his teddy bear and since she could feel his unhappiness rolling off of him in waves, she just kept crying and crying. Chelsea was crying too and Thorn and Scarlett were about to burst into a fresh set of tears themselves, which was about to make Kelly cry because she had absolutely no idea what to do.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," she finally told James, picking up Chelsea and bouncing her lightly in order to try to get her to stop crying. "She was upset and people say things they don't mean all the time when they're upset."

Amber could plainly see that that was not helping James at all but what killed her was his lack of response. She wished he would just say something because his silence was scaring her. He was never this quiet. Not ever. He wouldn't even really give her or any of her siblings responses and that was a really really bad sign. He never ignored them, not ever. "Daddy?" she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling but doing a really really bad job at it. "Daddy please talk."

"Yeah Daddy, please talk," Scarlett pleaded. "We love you." She frowned when he still didn't say anything. "Did Mommy hit you too hard? Did she hurt your mouth so you can't talk." She immediately turned to Thorn and nudged her with her elbow. "Go get Daddy an icepack."

"He don't need an icepack," Connor said nastily. He was torn because he really really wanted to go check on Cooper but after he had heard about what had happened between James and Mindy, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. "He's SAD! An icepack won't fix SAD!"

"That don't mean his mouth don't hurt," Scarlett shot back. "And maybe if we do something nice for him he'll feel better. You would know that if you weren't a stupid meanie!"

"I'm not the stupid meanie! Mommy is!" He was given quite the angry look for that comment by James but he didn't give a shit. "She hit him and said bad things and hurt his feelings and now he's not going to stop being sad until SHE fixes it!" He was right about that and he knew that they all knew that. So, smirking smugly because of it, he plopped down on the ground and began playing with Snoopy.

Kelly shook her head at Connor and then turned back to James, who was just beyond despondent. "Maybe you should give her some time and then try to talk to her," she said gently. "Maybe once she calms down you guys can straighten things out."

James shook his head. "It won't matter."

She blinked uncertainly at that one. "Why? Why won't it matter?"

"Yeah Daddy, why?" Tryg chimed in.

"Because I'm a Nazi who ruined her life," James replied. "Didn't you hear what she said? I fucked up this entire family."

"James no," Kelly said weakly. "Don't talk like that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not true!" Amber said tearfully. "It's not true! She didn't mean it Daddy, she didn't! Her brain makes her say bad things sometimes and she really don't meant them. She loves you Daddy, she loves you!"

James did not look convinced for a single second, which was completely unbearable for the kids. Elizabeth continued to fuss and the fussing turned into a full fledged ffit when he handed her off to Amber.

"Daddy?" Thorn said while Amber stared at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing?"

"He's going hunting," Connor said before James could have a chance to say anything (that was assuming he would have tried to speak anyway). "He's sad so he thinks killing people will make him feel better." Maybe Connor wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch but he did know his father's habits pretty well.

"Take care of her okay?" James said, gently touching the top of Elizabeth's head while avoiding eye contact with Amber. She tried to get him to look at her but he wouldn't do it, which made her lower lip tremble unhappily.

"Daddy she didn't mean it," she said desperately. "She's sick, she don't know what she's saying sometimes."

"I'll be back soon," he promised, once again not acknowledging what she had just said to him. "Real soon." He still wasn't making eye contact and he chewed on his lower lip a bit before bolting out of the room as fast as he could, which made Elizabeth scream in protest and Connor go upstairs so he could go grab the phone. He had a very important phone call to make.

…

"Ow!" Julie hissed as she accidentally cut her finger with her knife. She had been trying to chop up some vegetables to put in her roast but now that was going to have to wait until she patched herself. "Mother fucking thing…" She put the knife in the sink and went into the bathroom so she could rinse her finger with cold water to stop the bleeding. It was stinging like a bitch and she just shook her head as she patted it dry and then but some triple antibiotic ointment on it and then cover it with a band-aid. "Great going Rosenberg," she muttered to herself. "Really fucking-" She was cut off by the phone ringing and she sighed loudly at the sound of it. "Oh what now?"

All she got was another ring in response and she left the bathroom so she could grab the phone and answer it. "Hello?"

"But Connor, how do you know Daddy is really coming back?" Thorn asked loudly. Their phone was obviously on speaker so Julie could hear lots of crying, which made her stomach drop down somewhere to around her feet.

"Because I've known Daddy longer than you've even been alive," Connor shot back, temporarily forgetting that he was on the phone with Julie. "He's hunting and he'll be back soon."

"If you believed that then why are you calling Julie?" Amber asked.

"Because Daddy don't think right when he's sad and I want to make sure he gets home okay and doesn't leave a body somewhere where he's not supposed to."

"Connor what happened?" Julie asked, not liking the sound of this at all already.

"Mommy brought Coopy home and then went off on Daddy," Connor explained. "She hurt his feelings real bad and she smacked him and said all sorts of bad things. Now he's gone hunting to make himself feel better but the babies don't think he's going to come back so you gotta go find him and make him come home, okay?"

"We'll be good if he comes back," Tryg promised helpfully. "We will, we swear."

"Da da da da!" Elizabeth wailed, making Julie bite down on her lower lip as she began to search for her shoes.

"Julie are you gonna go?" Connor asked.

"Of course," she assured him. "I'll find him." She knew his usual haunts and he knew which ones in particular that he liked to hit when he was really upset. "And I'll bring him home." She could hear the kids going on and on in the background and it broke her heart. "Where's Mindy at now?"

"I dunno and I don't care," Connor replied. His voice had gone down to a whisper so the babies wouldn't overhear him. "Coopy's upstairs probably dying and there's some hooker here that took care of Coopy while he was on the streets but she didn't do a good job."

"Obviously not."

"I wish Mommy was a boy." Well that one came out of left field.

"Why sweetheart?"

"Because then I could bop her in the face for hurting Daddy and not get in trouble."

"Connor Michael Lawson!"

"She HURT him Julie! She hurt him real bad! Remember when Mark hurt Daddy when he was drunk and I hit him right in the face and broke his nose. Coopy was real proud of me that day and Daddy liked it too but he pretended he didn't."

"Connor just stop and stay out of trouble okay?"

"You promise to bring him home safe?"

"Yes, I promise. Now be a good boy in the mean time, okay?"

"Okay Julie. Whatever you say."

…

James sat in the giant puddle of blood that was on the floor, absolutely drenched with the warm, sticky liquid. His knife was laying in front of him, also drenched in blood and the bodies of his victims were all around him because he hadn't disposed of them yet. In his haze of pain and self loathing he had stumbled into a church…the priest had assumed he had been looking for salvation but the reality was, he needed relief. He needed a way to make himself feel better so he could try to stop the black hole of despair that was growing inside of him but it hadn't worked. He had slaughtered absolutely everyone inside of the place, thirteen people in all, but he didn't feel better. His method of dealing with shit had officially failed him and now he was even more lost.

"I love her," he said quietly, grabbing the priest's dismembered head and looking down at it angrily like it had just accused him of lying. "I do! I love my Baby Doll so fucking much…it actually fucking hurts how much I love her. I can't breathe when I'm not around her. I can't fucking breathe."

The priest just stared at him with dead eyes, making him take two of his fingers and jam them into the eye sockets, gouging out the eyes for his own amusement. He loved Mindy. The only thing that could ever potentially match his love for her was the love for their children. That was why what she had said hurt so fucking bad. He wouldn't have cared if he didn't love her but everything she had said had cut through his bones and had left his heart and soul beaten, broken and bleeding.

Fuck, had he become Glen without even realizing it? He knew Glen had kept her in a fucking cage; had he done the same thing? She had said he was a Nazi with her life but he hadn't fucking meant it. He really hadn't. Yes he had taken away her career but that hadn't been to hurt her. He had just been trying to protect her. The fucking media and her idiotic team had been brainwashing her into believing she was fat and she had been losing so much weight she had been fainting and he had been able to see her fucking bones through her skin. He didn't care what she said; that wasn't normal by any means.

"I love her more than the rest of the world," he told the priest, wiping his eyes to try to stop the tears from sneaking out but ended up just smearing them around and getting them bloody. "They only love Mindy and they love tearing her down just as much as they love worshipping her. They don't know the real her. I do and I love _her_. I love _Miranda_; _she's_ my Baby Doll. My Baby Doll…all I've done is try to protect her. That fucking business was going to kill her…I would have pulled Mark out of wrestling if it was a threat to his life and I would have done the same to Annabelle if she would have been doing something that was making her hurt herself. I was just trying to help…"

The priest didn't say anything to that so he tossed the head across the room and buried his face in his hands. His efforts didn't mean shit. She had made that abundantly clear. She hated him from ripping her away from her career and she hated him for making Cooper away. It didn't matter that he had done both to PROTECT her; she hated his guts now and it just made him want to die on the spot.

"What the hell am I going to do?" he asked his other victims, taking his hands off his face so he could hug himself. "Fucking tell me what to do because I don't know." Could he let her go back to her career, knowing that the assholes in it would just feed her negative image of herself and make her hurt herself all over again? Could he let Cooper back into their lives…

"No.." he said weakly, shaking his head vehemently. No that was too much. Cooper had RAPED his Baby Doll. It didn't matter why he had done it and it didn't matter that he hadn't meant to do it and he was sorry now; he had still done it and James didn't even want to try to forgive him for it. He had fucking grown up hearing Joseph rape girls; he had heard them cry and scream for him to stop and he fucking knew just how scared and hurt they were during the fucking process. The fact that the boy he had raised as his own son had dared to do that to anyone, especially his wife, was just completely reprehensible to him. And then it wasn't even like Cooper had done anything to earn forgiveness for it; Mindy had just given it to him and he had taken it when he hadn't even deserved it. Even if he had been given it he should have still earned it.

But was that selfish of him? She had forgiven Cooper and wanted him back…was he just causing harm by harm by holding on to the grudge and refusing to let them be a family again? Having Cooper back would make her happy…but what if he hurt her again? What if he hurt someone else? James didn't want to take that risk but he wanted to make her happy so she would love him again and stop feeling like he had settled…God how he fucking hated that belief she had. It drove him absolutely insane because it seemed like no matter what he did, he couldn't ever make it go away. Logically he knew she was a paranoid schizophrenic so it wasn't like he could ever fully make those paranoid conclusions go away but emotionally it fucking killed him and made him feel like a failure for not doing enough for her. Fuck, why should she fucking love him? All he did was fail anyway. His own mother couldn't love him, he had never been enough for Mark, he probably failed Annabelle in countless ways but she never had the balls to say it…why should she be any different?

"James? Oh my God."

James looked up and saw that Julie had arrived. "Rosenberg," he said absently. "Hey."

Julie put her hand over her mouth and shook her head in disbelief at the sight before her. She never understood why he liked to come here when he was upset. He was a complete atheist and actually laughed at the face of religion. But still he was here and he had taken out a boatload of people in the process. "Oh James…" She shook her head and walked over to him so she could haul him to his feet. They were going to have to burn this place down; that was the only way they would be able to clean up this mess. It was just too big of a mess to take care of any other way.

"An atheist and a Jew walk into a church…" James said absently, too lost in his own mind to realize what she was doing until she began to march him towards the door. "Wait, what are we doing?"

"Well I'm going to commit some serious arson to cover your ass," she replied. "And then I'm taking you home so you can shower and be with your babies, who NEED you something scary right now."

He hung his head in shame. "I failed them too didn't I?"

"You didn't fail anyone, don't talk like that."

"But-"

"No. Just stop. I don't care what Mindy told you. I know you and you're a good husband and a good father, but you have got to man the fuck up and take care of your babies. They're fucking scared out of their minds because you're so upset and it's time to take care of them."

"I know," he said shamefully. He sighed unhappily. "You don't think Baby Doll really hates me do you?"

"No I don't think so." Even if she did she wouldn't have told him that. "Now let's go home, okay?"

He didn't say anything to that; he just let her drag him out of the room and she shook her head and tightened her grip on him. Unless shit dramatically changed, tonight was going to be a long night.


	62. Chapter 62

**cathy**: We'll soon find out if you're right about that. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

As Mindy and Taylor reentered the kitchen Amber was right there militantly, smelling the nicotine on her mother and shaking her head in dismay. It took Mindy a second to realize Amber was right there with Kelly entering the room.

"Min!" the blonde immediately reached out and reeled her close, "What's the matter? What happened?" her head shook and her blue eyes got wide, "I could hear screaming and…?"

"I did?" raising an eyebrow Mindy looked to Taylor, who nodded along immediately and seemed a bit frightened herself from having to deal with that impromptu outburst.

"It was scary" Amber nodded while gently running her fingers through the tangled ends of Mindy's hair, which confused Mindy even more.

"Who did I yell at?"

"James" Kelly cringed and Mindy suddenly got sickly pale.

"Why?" she shrugged and shook her head, "What'd he do?"

"According to YOU…?" Taylor's thin lips curled and she clenched her teeth nervously, "Everything."

"Oh Jesus Christ on a fucking pony, where is he?" with a frown Mindy began to peer around when the last voice she wanted to hear came from the doorway.

"How about GONE FOREVER because YOU YELLED AT HIM AND HIT HIM!" Connor screamed the moment he saw Mindy, making Kelly cling to her arm and Amber protectively stand in front of her mother.

"Gone?" raising an eyebrow Mindy peered around and shook her head confusedly, "I hit Daddy?"

"Stop LYING!" Connor screamed and charged into the kitchen towards her face.

"HEY!" immediately Kelly sprang to Mindy's defense, but the frightening look Connor shot her made her back down.

"Get BACK!" Amber warned sharply as he got closer, "She's SICK she's a SICK girl, Connor!"

"Please" Connor snorted before shaking his head at Mindy, "Mommy is just a mean BITCH who NEVER should have come here! Everybody except the stupid midgets HATES you!"

"Connor!" Kelly gasped and Taylor was just astonished. She knew the guy was mentally retarded, but still…ouch. He reminded her a bit too much of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Much to her shock though, Mindy wasn't afraid of Connor in the slightest. She just stared dead at him and said nothing.

"NO! She hit Daddy and made him MISERABLE!"

"CONNOR!" Amber growled and smacked his thigh, "She's SICK! Mommy is SICK, alright?"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"THAT'S rich coming from an untreated OFFICIAL retard!" Amber nodded at him with wide eyes, not even caring how much she upset him because truth hurt. If he felt like coming after her mother she was going to hit him right where it hurt so he'd know to stop. Neither Kelly nor Taylor nor Mindy said a damn thing to correct her either. Mindy didn't react at all. "You have NO ROOM to talk, Connor!"

"Too bad it don't matter cuz Daddy loves ME best! YOU midgets can live on the street he don't care! I'M the baby!"

"Fine" Amber shrugged and folded her arms across her chest, "Just stay the hell away from my Mommy and my brother and sisters."

"I don't WANT them anyway I HATE you!" he stuck his tongue out at her, "NERD!"

"Connor stop it" now Mindy spoke up, with great venom.

"I wish you were MARKY! At least Marky never HIT Daddy!"

"You know what…?" Mindy shrugged and slapped her thighs, "Whatever. Hate me, I do not care. You are not my son you do not have to like me."

"LIKE you?" Connor scoffed, "I HATE you! My REAL Mommy would NEVER"

"Yeah well 'real Mommy' is fucking DEAD and I am SICK of trying to live up to her polly-perfect fucking memory for you all! You miss her so much go dig her up and sit her at the kitchen table so you can play incest bingo or something!" with that she flipped her hair and made her exit of the kitchen, Taylor immediately following her out along with Kelly. Taylor's hands were over her mouth to hide the nervous laugh, and who could blame her? It was one of those situations where she couldn't help but laugh. Mindy was so fucking nasty yet could put anyone in stitches because she was so witty. The level of her ridiculousness was one that no one should ever take seriously, yet for some godly reason everyone did.

Catching the frightening glint in Connor's eyes, Amber knew it wasn't good so she immediately darted for a countertop and lifted out the biggest butcher knife she could find before pointing it his way.

"You come NEAR her…" she hissed with narrowed eyes, "and I won't hesitate to cut your fucking throat. My mother is SICK…she's a SICK girl and you don't listen when people tell you to quit. You do what you want with Daddy but don't you DARE lay a finger on my Mommy"

"HELLO domestic violence" Scarlett sighed upon entering the kitchen and up onto a countertop she jumped, confusing the hell out of Amber.

"Scar?" Amber raised an eyebrow as her sister opened cabinets and dropped down all of Mindy's medication followed by a glass and down she hopped, opening the fridge and throwing fruit on the countertop.

"Mommy needs her medicine" Scarlett sniffled and shook her head, "I think Daddy forgot this morning"

"Did he?" Amber frowned and shook her head with pouted lips, "I thought he gave it to her?"

"Then why is she acting out?" Scarlett closed the refrigerator door and popped her weight pointedly, Amber taking a moment to mull over that before shrugging.

"I don't know, she does that sometimes"

"I don't think he's been giving her enough" Scarlett bend to grab a blender and plopped it down on the counter, "She's being freakier than usual."

Connor huffed and left the room not wanting a thing to do with any of them, which confused Scarlett and she pointed towards the doorway and wrinkled her nose.

"What crawled up HIS ass and died?"

…

"You never got along, have you…?" Taylor actually bounced Elizabeth in her lap and assumed blindly since Mindy was seated brushing Scarlett's hair and drinking her milkshake.

"No" Kelly answered for her and shook her head, "Never."

"I figured…" Taylor frowned and chewed her cheek a bit nervously, "I mean, I keep up with tabloids when I can"

"She's always with Cooper" Kelly finished for her with a nod, and Taylor pointed at her with a weak smile.

"I've seen YOU with her a lot too"

"Hah" Kelly giggled and leaned to give Mindy's head a kiss, "That's me and the Loo."

"How long have you guys been friends?" Taylor asked with a weak smile, to which Kelly brightened and shrugged.

"Four years?" she wrinkled her nose and looked to Mindy, "Does that seem right, Min?"

Wordlessly Mindy nodded and rested on Kelly's shoulder.

"Her ex introduced us actually" her face fell and she nodded weakly, "He was a good friend of mine…he was mean but not totally an asshole to me"

"And he hated this new crowd I can imagine…?" Taylor prompted and Kelly nodded with wide eyes.

"Probably the WORST bunch Min coulda hooked up with"

"Do you think so?"

Kelly wrinkled her nose for a second before cringing, "I'm not totally comfortable with them, if you catch me?"

"Are those allegations against James true?"

"I HOPE not" Kelly glared at Mindy before petting her hair a bit gently, "He's just overprotective."

"Do you have any idea where he is?" Taylor gulped when Kelly shook her head again with widened blue eyes.

"Not one clue" she frowned before shrugging and petting Mindy's hair once more, "I think he'll most likely be home soon."

"Do you think he's gonna start something with her…?" Taylor jerked her head downstairs referencing to Connor, "because of…" she cringed, "you know…him?"

"I sure hope not" Kelly shook her head and watched Mindy drink the milkshake down, "He shouldn't. I don't think he will. If somebody else has a problem with her though I feel sorry for them."

…

Later Mindy entered Cooper's room with a bin and just sat silently by the bed. She didn't say anything but just watched him sleep. The poor boy tossed, turned, shivered, and twitched out until gently she swept the long hair from his face and began caressing his cheek with the back of her hand. At first his breathing shortened and he coughed, so she kissed his forehead calmly until his struggling ceased. He did calm down significantly but reached out to pull her close even in his sleep, which made her cry and lean up to plant a long kiss to his lips as he slept.

"Hang in there, Bub" sniffling she nodded before placing the vomit bucket next to his bed because come morning he was going to need it something scary. He was going to need a vomit dumpster it was going to be so bad.

…

When Julie and James got home everyone was in bed already.

Mindy had given Taylor a guest room to sleep in along with clothes and whatever else she'd need. She promised the girl she'd take her shopping too so she didn't have to wear hooker garb around the house. It was just not something Mindy Stratus was interested in seeing, and of course Kelly and the girls managed to weasel themselves into a shopping spree with Mommy. Lizzie Bear and Lammy would come too because that was that.

Too terrified to come to bed, James slumped in the couch and kept his eyes down. Of course he wanted to go upstairs, find Mindy, and hold her close all night long but he couldn't. She'd tear his head off.

"James please…" Julie sighed and shook her head, "this isn't going to fix anything."

"No…" James shook his head and hugged himself while staring into the coffee table in front of him, "not unless Baby Doll wants me to-"

"Can I help you?" the very short and nasty manner that was asked in made James's face light up and Julie roll her eyes in aggravation.

"Sorry to disturb you" sighing irritably Julie placed a hand on her hip and motioned into the living room, "just cleaning up and returning your husband"

"Why?" Mindy frowned and shook her head confusedly, "Where did he go?"

"To church" Julie nodded at her, which Mindy took as a sarcastic remark and wrinkled her nose in anger.

"Yeah…okay my Atheist husband is goin' to church, REAL fuckin' original Julie! Did he go to the confession booth too while we're at it?"

"And confessed to the severed head of a priest? Absolutely. He sure hit that up in fact…" she went to poke Mindy's chest but knew she'd lose a finger if she did so, "He mass-murdered and gave me no choice but to burn down the entire building for you"

"Get out" was all Mindy said without any emotion, "Get out NOW."

"James-"

"You heard her" James's weak croak even startled Julie that he was caving to the bitch's demands like that, "leave…"

"But JAMES!"

"NOW, Julie…" James's eyes narrowed and Julie could only sneer at the tiny Mindy before looking at James in pure disgust.

"James Lawson, fearless obnoxious loudmouth and serial killer…pussywhipped by the littlest BITCH known to man"

BAM! Gasping in shock as her head snapped back Julie immediately moved a hand to her mouth and caught the blood as it fell from her busted lip. Mindy had actually hit her with a nice jab to the mouth and James just stood by and watched. The stone cold glaze in the back of Mindy's eyes scared the hell out of Julie and swallowing hard she backed from the couple in astonishment while glaring at James and decided to bite the bullet.

"You're not who I thought you were…" she scowled at James before glaring at Mindy and shaking her head, "as long as you have HER around I resign my position as your personal assistant. Maybe SHE can run your little empire for you"

"If you like your teeth where they are…" Mindy threatened coldly and Julie snorted while wiping the blood from her mouth.

"Gone" out she went and Mindy practically padlocked the door so she couldn't come back before groaning loudly and turning her back so it was pressed to the doorway and let her eyes drift to James.

"I will get you another assistant babe" nodding she shrugged and clamped a hand in her hair, "for now I need you to talk to me."

His head hung and from the garage door she frowned at him.

"What's going on, Jamie?"

Out of anxiety he said nothing in fear of messing up, so taking a deep breath through her nose she pushed off the door and headed towards the couch, climbing over the back and nestling into his lap.

"James…" whenever she called him that it was never good, "I do not know what I said or what I did,…" she shrugged and rested her head to his chest, "but it must have been very wrong and I am sorry. Whatever I did, I do not even know what I am sorry for but I am if it is making you so sad, darling."

He let out a bit of a choked nod so she hugged him tight.

"I LOVE YOU, James Paul Lawson! Okay?" smiling weakly her lips moved over his and they kissed, "I would NEVER hurt you on purpose, darling you are everything to me"

Coughing in relief he tried to hide tears by forcing a nod.

"Darling" she grabbed his face and they kissed, "I LOVE you."

Whimpering lightly he nodded, still nervous to wrap his arms around her when she did it for him and swung a leg over his waist so she could kiss his head back into the support of her forearms.

"I love you, Jamie I swear I do on my life"

"I …" he swallowed hard before nodding and burying his face in her neck, "I love you so fucking much, Baby Doll please I love you more than life itself please please please"

"Babe!" the shout got his attention and her mouth devoured his in a matter of seconds, "I fucking LOVE you! From the god damn day we met I fucking love you more than anyone, you KNOW that!"

Finally getting it in him to wrap his arms around her tight he nodded, sniffling and coughing so they could kiss harder but he loved her. He loved her beyond anything anyone could imagine. His arms didn't move from her body but her hands did otherwise.

Along with running through his hair and petting his face she managed to free his cock and move her panties aside to rub against it, but he couldn't do that longer than a few seconds. He was inside her tight wet heat and violently she rocked against him so he could feel how much she loved him. Words couldn't do it anymore, she hoped just through her skin he could pick up the sensations she got from his every touch. Tears made their way down her face as his body joining hers and before she knew it she was sobbing loudly.

"Jamie I'm SORRY whatever I said was WRONG it was!"

"Sssshh…" shaking his head he kissed the tears away and hugged her close, "I love you so fucking much Baby Doll, I love you more than anything you could imagine on this fucking earth I love you"

With his every thrust their tongues tangled and her face was drenched in tears despite his kissing them away.

"I fucked up so fucking bad-"

"Sssshh sssh I love you" nodding desperately he held her closer and nodded, "Just know how I love you…that's all. Nothing I EVER do will hurt you because of how much I do."

"Okay" she croaked and nodded, pressing their foreheads together and grinding into him harder, "Okay…okay…okay Jamie darling I love you I do!"

"I love YOU" coughing and burying his face downward he sobbed into her neck which made her cry twice as hard, "don't hate me, Baby"

"Never ever, I swear!" kissing his hair and crying herself because she hated it when guys cried she nodded, "Forever and ever and ever, Jamie remember?"

Snuggling her harder he nodded.

"I mean it."


	63. Chapter 63

**Esha Napoleon **and **cathy**: Thank you! **FortheLoveofWrestling**: Oh yeah, the hold on each other passed the line of devotion and turned into obsession somewhere along the way. And they don't see anything wrong with it at all. **NeroAnne**: No they don't but she has a horrible view on herself and thinks she should die so yeah…selfish yes but it's the way she thinks. And glad you got all caught up : )

…

Connor didn't sleep at all that night. He was way way too upset to even fathom sleeping. Mindy was fucking mean to his father; she hit him and said terrible things to him and made him sad and did she admit to doing it? No. She acted like she had no idea what she said or did. And of course everyone else jumped to her defense because nobody was allowed to disagree with her or call her out on anything. Nobody wanted the crazy fucking lady to claw out their eyes. Hell he didn't even want that, which was why he was done. He didn't want to be anywhere near her anymore. He couldn't take it. He knew she hated him. He fucking knew it. She hated him because he did not always suck up to her like James and Cooper and anyone else that was her friend. She had been mean to his daddy and did James stick up for himself. No, he didn't. And when Connor tried to do it he had gotten yelled at and fucking Amber had to stick her nose into the whole thing.

Fucking Amber…out of everyone there she was probably the worst. Always so smart and she fucking knew it and flaunted it too. She was just like all those kids at school who picked on him and made him feel stupid only he couldn't do anything to her about her. He was too big and she was a girl. If she were an older boy or if he were younger he would have knocked out her teeth to make her shut up. Hell, if he had been younger, he would have done something mean to her like chop off all her hair or dump something on top of her head. He couldn't do any of that stuff though. He was big and she was small and that wouldn't be right. He touched her and he would be in so much trouble and he didn't want that. He wasn't stupid enough to go that far, as tempting as it sounded.

He wanted to talk to James and tell him how mean Amber was and how he tried to stand up for him but Mindy was just mean to him right back but he had overheard what was going on downstairs. Mindy had made nice and of course James had accepted it. He fucking loved her best…he didn't love Connor best no more it was always about HER. That made him cry for a good couple of hours but he kept the volume down because it wasn't like anyone cared. Nobody cared about him anymore. James was a slave to Mindy, Mindy didn't care anymore and probably only pretended to like him in the first place just to make James happy, Cooper was a mess, the babies were babies, Julie was fired, Tiffany was gone, Kelly was an idiot…he had to get the fuck out of there.

Of course that led to the question of where the hell was he going to go. He couldn't just run off like he had done other times. He didn't want to get shot like he did last time. That was just no fucking fun at all. If he was going to go somewhere then he was going to have to actually have some place to go with someone to take care of him. His first thought would have been Cooper but Cooper was home now and in absolutely no condition to take care of anyone, not even himself. His next thought was Julie but then he realized that Mindy hated her so much that she would either go after her or send James after her just to be mean to him.

So who the hell did that leave? Tiffany was gone and while he loved her to pieces, she was a good ways up Mindy's butt and that was not what he wanted at the moment. Maybe Mark…wait no, Mark sucked at taking care of him. He never had any idea what to do with him in the past and that would also mean dealing with Michelle, which was something Connor just wouldn't do. He'd kill the bitch just for being annoying. The possibility of Bearer popped into his head because he knew he hated Mindy but then he remembered the asshole hated him too, so there was no winning there. "Fuck," he muttered, hugging himself because hopelessness began to settle in. He almost started to cry again when another name popped into his head…only this time it was fucking perfect. This person didn't even really know Mindy but knew him well and would be more than happy to have him live with him and be nice to him unlike the batch of meanies in his own home.

Being as quiet as he possibly could, he crept out of the room and started to head downstairs when he heard the sounds of James and Mindy together in the shower. His first instinct was to roll his eyes but then he stopped when he realized that their constant fucking was actually a good thing this time. It allowed him to slip into Cooper's room unnoticed and find his brother curled up in the fetal position, a shivering, shaking mess. "Coopy?" he said, wincing at the way his big brother looked. He was scared because he had never seen a withdrawal before. The last time Cooper had come off the stuff, he had been in the hospital for most of it, although that had more to do with the horrible car wreck he was recovering from than the withdrawal itself. But in any case, James hadn't let Connor see what Cooper had to go through and with good reason.

"Coopy?" Connor said again, approaching the bed very slowly. Cooper hadn't even noticed he was in the room yet and he didn't want to scare him on accident. "Coopy are you okay?" He stepped up right next to the bed and gently touched his arm. "Coopy-" He gasped in surprise as Cooper suddenly grabbed him and hugged his waist tightly. "Coopy!"

Cooper didn't say a word. He just hugged him and cried uncontrollably, so weak that his grip would have slipped if Connor hadn't helped to hold on to him. "Help me," he finally managed to plead. He started crying uncontrollably, soaking Connor's shirt with his tears. "Help me please help me."

"Okay," Connor agreed quickly. He pet Cooper on the head and nodded as fast as he could. "I'll help you Coopy. You know I'll help you just get better. Please get better I love you."

Cooper didn't even seem to hear him. He just cried and then stopped to make a funny retching sound. Connor jumped back on instinct and made a face as Cooper threw up into the bucket that was by his bed. "Ewww…that's gross Coopy."

Of course Cooper didn't really even hear him. He was too busy heaving over and over again, completely unable to stop himself. Connor chewed on his lower lip as he watched his older brother, going back over to him when he finally had no more to throw up and just dissolved into tears. He felt bad for not holding him while he threw up but he was bad at getting too close to people doing that. He could be in the same room with them if he absolutely had to but if he got too close he ended up vomiting right alongside them, which really wasn't helpful to Cooper at the moment.

"Coopy it's going to be okay," he promised, not knowing any such thing. It was just what he wanted to believe and he figured it would be good if Cooper believed it as well. "It really be. You just have to get better." Right now that didn't really seem to be possible but he didn't care. He hugged Cooper tightly and watched his big brother bury his face back into his shirt and sob, his own tears falling right alongside Cooper's. It was tearing him up inside to see how far his big brother had fallen. Cooper had always seemed so strong to him, even with all the emotional damage he had. But here he weak and broken and Connor could only hold him until he cried himself back to sleep. Even in sleep though he wasn't peaceful. He tossed and turned and shivered and cried and nothing Connor seemed to do was helping. It was almost enough to frustrate him when he decided to make one last attempt to soothe Cooper into a sleep that was at least somewhat peaceful.

"_A last fire will rise, behind those eyes. Black house will rock, blind boys don't lie_," Connor sang softly, petting Cooper's hair as he did so. This was the only song besides Surfin Bird that he knew all the lyrics too. It had been James and Annabelle's song and it was also the one Cooper used to sing to him to get him to sleep for about four years after Annabelle's death. Some might try to argue that it was also a swipe at Mindy because it was James and Annabelle's thing but in reality, that was the furthest thing from his mind. Cooper sang it to him, he knew all the words, so that was what was getting sung."_Immortal fear, that voice so clear, through broken walls, that scream I hear…_"

"I'm sorry," Cooper whimpered. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean it." He let out a loud sob and Connor tightened his grip on him and began rocking him lightly to also try to help him.

"_Cry little sister-thou shall not fall. Come to your brother-thou shall not die. Unchain me sister-thou shall not fear. Love is with your brother-thou shall not kill._"

Cooper shivered even more and clung to Connor more tightly. Connor began to gently trace Cooper's eyebrows and the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, just like he used to do to him when he was little. "_Blue masquerade, strangers look on; When will they learn, this loneliness? Temptation heat, beats like a drum; Deep in your veins, I will not lie…_ His voice trailed off as Cooper finally went somewhat still. He was still shivering and whimpering softly but his grip on Connor loosened and he was probably as peaceful as he was going to get (but that wasn't saying much). "I love you Coopy." He kissed Cooper's cheek. "I really do." He held Cooper for a tiny bit longer before letting him go and tucking hm in and then grabbing the vomit bucket. He emptied it out in the bathroom by Amber's room and cleaned it before returning it to Cooper's room and then going downstairs to grab the phone. Oxa and Thorn were up but he didn't acknowledge either of them. He just headed back up to his room and closed the door behind him, dialing the number he hadn't called in quite awhile. "Pick up pick up pick up," he said softly. "Come on come on pick up…"

"Hello?" Bret Hart barely could contain his yawn as he said that simple word.

"Uncle Bret!" Connor shouted excitedly. He bounced up and down excitedly, happy that he had gotten the older man to answer.

"Connor?" Bret sounded pleasantly surprised to hear from him.

"Yeah it's me," Connor confirmed.

"Hey buddy, how are you doing?"

"Uh…."

All the way in Canada Bret winced. That wasn't a good sign. "What happened?"

"Can I come live with you?" Might as well ask point blank.

Bret blinked in surprise. "Live with? Don't you mean visit?"

"No…I want to come live with you for real. I don't like it here no more."

"Why not?" Bret asked gently. He had known Connor since he was a kid and he knew better than to try to tell Connor he didn't mean something. That just upset Connor and made him more difficult to deal with. "What's going on?"

"People are MEAN here!" Connor said, not controlling the volume of his voice anymore because he didn't care. "The babies are annoying and Amber called me retarded and Mindy was mean to Daddy last night-"

"Wait, Mindy?" The last Bret knew, Connor called her "Mommy" so that right there was a red flag.

"Yes! She hit him and said mean things to him and made him upset and then she lied and said she didn't remember. And then she was mean to me!"

"Connor-"

"If she would have been a man I would have punched her in the face for hurting my Daddy," Connor stated firmly. "But I couldn't so she's just not Mommy anymore. I have no Mommy again. Only Mommy I ever had died when I was really little. The bad cancer killed her and she's never coming back."

"Oh Connor…" What the hell else could Bret say? It was hard to say whether Connor meant that for good or he just meant it now because he was upset and angry. "So you think living with me is going to fix things?"

"Yes," Connor answered. "I'm going crazy and I want to kick everyone in the face. I don't like it here anymore. I want to get out." He sniffled and started a cry a bit, partly because he was actually really upset and partly because he knew he could sucker Bret into giving in easier with them. "Please help me? I'll be good, I promise!"

"Have you even talked to James about this?"

"No…"

"Don't you think you should?"

"Why? He don't care about me no more. He has a new stupid family to love."

"Connor that's not true. Don't talk like that."

"But it FEELS true!" Connor lamented. "And I HATE it! I hate-" He stopped when he heard someone knock on his door. "WHAT?" he shouted angrily.

"Connor?" James said, frowning as he opened the door and let himself in. "Who are you talking to?"

"Uncle Bret." Connor handed the phone off to James. "He's gonna tell you all about how I'm going to move in with him."

"What?" Now that had been the last thing James had expected to hear.

"Oh no, don't put words in my mouth," Bret said loudly. "Connor…"

"What the hell Hart?" James asked as Connor already started to pack his stuff. "What-"

"He called me and asked to move in," Bret interrupted. "I didn't suggest it."

James shook his head, at a loss for what to say. He had come in looking to ask Connor if he wanted to help make breakfast and got smacked with this instead. "What do you mean he called you and asked to move in?" he said in disbelief. "Connor what are you doing? Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Connor asked without pausing for an instant.

"Packing!" James said.

"Why?"

"Because you're not going anywhere."

"Uh…I don't think you should say that," Bret said wisely although he was ignored for his efforts.

Connor's face darkened and he balled up his fists. "Why not? I don't like it here no more! Everyone here is mean and I want to leave! At least Uncle Bret will be nice to me!"

"Connor what are you talking about?" James was still very confused about all of this. Eggs, bacon and pancakes had been on his mind on the way to the room and he just didn't know what the hell the problem was. "Calm down, just tell me-"

"Mindy and Amber are MEAN!" Connor clarified. "Amber called me a RETARD and Mindy-"

"Don't call her that," James snapped quickly. "She's your mother-"

"No she's not! My mother is DEAD! She's DEAD and I would rather play incest bingo with her than stay here anymore!"

James blinked in disbelief. "Wait what?"

"Yeah I'm on that camp too," Bret agreed. "What the hell is incest bingo?"

"Ask HER!" The her of course was Mindy. "She told me to dig her up and play it with her because she don't care. She told me that after you left because she HIT you and hurt your feelings like a MEANIE!"

"Yeah, about that," Bret cut in, still trying to figure out what the fuck was really going on. "What the hell happened? Did she really-"

"She had a schizo episode last night," James explained, talking to Connor just as much as he was Bret. "She didn't know what she was doing."

"Lies," Connor said, going back to packing.

"No, no lies," James said, trying his best to stop Connor from packing. "She's SICK Connor! We've talked about this, remember?"

Connor scowled and slapped James across the face, catching him completely off guard. "Oooh I'm sick, I don't remember what I did!"

"Connor Michael that is NOT funny!"

"It wasn't SUPPOSED to be!" Connor folded his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I want to go to Uncle Bret's. I want to move out and I'm gonna go whether you like it or not."

"NO you are not!" James argued. "I'm your father and you are going to do what I say-"

"Nope."

"Yes you will."

"NO!"

"Yes! And that's the end of this discussion!"

"NO it is not!" Connor whined and stomped his foot when James shook his head. "Ugh! I HATE you! I wish you died from the cancer instead of Mommy!" He stormed out of the room, not even realizing he just made himself a hypocrite by hurting James's feelings when the whole reason he was mad was because Mindy had hurt them too.

James just stood there, shaking his head in complete disbelief. "Wha-"

"James?" Bret said, hesitantly speaking and breaking the awkward silence.

"Hmmm?" James barely even heard him. He was too busy sliding down on to Connor's bed and staring at the ceiling absently.

"Maybe you should let me take him for awhile," Bret said gently. "He's obviously unhappy and he can't just suck it up and deal with it like a normal person. He's not capable of it."

"He's fine," James said in denial. "It was just a rough night."

"James come on, you can't fool me. Rough night my ass. From the sounds of what I've just heard, there is really something the matter with that situation there. Connor's obviously not happy there. Maybe letting him leave and stay with me will help."

"Baby Doll and Connor are just having a rough patch. I can fix it-"

"Like you fixed Cooper and Mark?" Game point Bret. He had just won that entire argument without truly trying. "Look, you should know better than anyone forcing a situation like that is the last thing you need to do, especially because you're dealing with two mentally ill people. Giving them time apart could help Connor get rid of his hostile feelings and then he can come back home and things will be better."

"You think?"

"It's worth a shot isn't it?"

"I guess so…let me think about it okay?"

"Well you might want to think fast, because I don't think Connor's going to wait." Bret shook his head as James sighed at that. "Call me back when you guys work this out. I'll be here all day." With that, Bret hung up the phone, leaving James alone with his own thoughts.


	64. Chapter 64

**firewing pegasus: **Mindy doesn't try to hide behind her mental illness. She uses it to push people away. She's VERY seriously mentally ill and don't live in the same reality as the rest of the world does. She thinks what she does is okay. On top of her schizophrenia she has Multiple Personality Disorder (the "Natasha" that told her to stab her mother's eyes out when she was twelve turned into the "Mindy" persona the majority of the world knows) and while it's not as remotely widely addressed as the schizophrenia is, it's why she can't remember what she did or said to James. James knew going in what the deal was and whether she should get away with stuff or not, it is what it is. As for Amber, yes she acts like an adult but she's still six. She still needs and wants to be babied because she really has never had a childhood. She mommies her own mother and she turned the knife to Connor because she felt like Mindy needed to be defended. Her mother is the one person she truly adores and she has seen her hurt way too many times to count. As for Connor, he don't listen to anyone else just as much as they don't listen to him. As much as they don't like what he thinks or says lately, he's just as disagreeable with them. It's just not the prettiest of situations over all. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"I think you should let him go" Mindy sat in James's lap as they ate breakfast together and nodded with wide eyes.

Since Connor didn't want to cook with him obviously, Mindy had come down with Elizabeth just in time and they had cooked together despite the uncomfortable silence on James's part. The kids (except Connor) had all come down to eat as had a reticent Taylor and Kelly. Mindy was going to force-feed Cooper in a little bit even though he would puke it up anyway. Now it was only James and Mindy with Elizabeth in her high chair to eat breakfast alone and discuss the situation at hand. James had an arm around her waist, his head in her shoulder, and his free hand to maybe shovel food into his mouth. Mindy had been hand-feeding him herself because he didn't seem like he really was up for much else.

"Jamie-darling…" frowning since he didn't respond she craned her neck and they kissed. She opened her mouth to savor the sweetness of leftover maple syrup on his tongue and suck on his lower lip since he tasted awfully good today…though he tasted good every day this one was just special.

"So you think I should…?" he whispered a bit hoarsely to her while nuzzling her skin, still grateful that she'd made amends with him because he couldn't take not having her for situations like this. She was his everything without her he honestly was alone.

"I mean…" running a hand through his hair and pressing their foreheads she adjusted his hand so it sat more between her legs, "I do not wanna put words in your mouth, Jamie-darling…"

"What happened?" he croaked while sliding his hand under the shirt of his she wore and onto the sensitive flesh between her legs, "Did he say something to you?"

"I snapped" she nodded and rubbed her nose against his as they kissed, "I did, Jamie. I would never lie to you I snapped."

"Why, darling?" leaning forwards they kissed harder and he shook his head lightly, "Did he make you upset?"

Taking a deep breath she sighed and shrugged, "It is not like Bub and Mark, Jamie. There is nothing to be done."

"But" he frowned and furrowed his brow, "Baby I can figure out what's wrong, I really can"

"He does not like me, Jamie" she responded coldly with a shake of the head, "No matter what I do it will never be your sister even though I do not try to be. As a girl, I do not like hearing about how perfectly amazing she was because I will be honest I do not care. She did not want to hear about me especially from you and"

"Hey hey hey ssssshhh…" shaking his head he kissed her and frowned, "I love you, Baby Doll I do more than any-fucking-thing in this world I love you"

"Which is why your opinion is the only one I give a fuck about" she didn't care if that upset him, "Connor wished I was Mark and told me that his real Mommy would never hurt you blah blah blah okay and to be honest…there is NO SUCH THING as a person who would 'never' hurt the one they love most I do not give a fuck WHO you are! I fucking LOVE you" her teeth barred and a hand pressed to his face, "More than god damn anything and to have that" she was going to say 'bastard' since that was the literal truth but she stopped herself, "CONNOR tell me when he has NEVER been in a romantic relationship himself that I do not love you just makes me sick! Jamie he puts her on this PERFECT FUCKING PEDESTAL all the time and I am sorry I cannot deal with it! I KNOW I am a shitty mommy"

"Baby Doll no…"

"It is OKAY, Jamie darling I KNOW! I know I suck, okay? That is why I always have nannies I am such a shitty parent that-"

"No no no you're not" he shook his head kindly and they kissed, "You're the best-"

"You do it too, babe" she sighed before leaning up to kiss him, "I dunno. I think he should go because…" she knew this was going to kick him in the gut but she had to say it, "I can't deal with him. He drives me insane. He is not nice to me and thinks he knows everything when he knows nothing at all and"

"it's my fault…" he stepped in and actually didn't seem hurt by her words at all, "Baby it's all my fault I know that"

"NO Jamie!" her head shook and she grabbed his face so they could kiss more, "No, no, NO baby no! It is NOT your fault"

"I had him to begin with" James pointed out with a shrug, "I knew the risks…and then…" he frowned and swallowed hard again, "when everyone tried to tell me something was wrong I ignored them and told Connor to ignore them. I fed into the retardation and let it manifest itself to whatever the hell it is now"

"And it was NOT your fault, Jamie darling how could you know?"

"I should have taken him to a doctor"

"NOT your fault, darling no!" her lips met his once more and she leaned back against his chest, opening her legs further so he could place his fingers there and begin to rub in small circles. "You are perfect" they kissed, "and you are my darling Jamie" they kissed again, "and nothing will ever be your fault. I only gotted mad at you because I have a horrible ugly stupid brain"

"More like" his lips pressed to her forehead and he spoke against it, "a beautiful, charming, funny, and adorable brain"

She giggled madly and accepted the kiss he planted there before starting to arch her back into his hand as they made out. His fingers accidentally dropped into some maple syrup on her plate, so with a smirk he swirled his fingers in it a bit before withdrawing the hand between her legs and slipping two syrup-covered fingers inside of her, mixing them with her juices before licking his opposite hand clean too and sitting her up on the table.

"Jamie?" at first she giggled as his head dipped to slowly stroke her with his tongue, but the very moment he lapped the concoction of syrup and natural wetness she cried out and held his head on her. Weaving her fingers into his hair her hips bucked into his mouth harder with each long torturous stroke of his tongue, "Mmmm Jamie, Jamie, Jamie…!"

He started nibbling on her clit when she screamed and bucked her hips into his mouth, trying to somehow climax but he stood and slammed his lips to hers, licking his own lips to taste her better while pulling his hardened cock out of its confines but her hand clasped around it and pulled quickly.

"Baby Doll…" he groaned as her hand rapidly slid up and down the length of his cock before her mouth went right over it, hugging his waist and sucking on him as hard as she could. He growled, gripped her hair, and pumped his hips into her mouth because he couldn't take it before releasing down her throat and watching how fast she cleaned him of any leftover cum. "I know you're not done" he shook his head while slipping a finger between her legs and letting her ride it, getting hard again just by watching before completely impaling her on the table and thrusting away.

"Fuck Jamie…!" she tried to stay upright but fell on her back over some leftover food, which he highly dug and leaned over the table too to lick anything in range off her body and thrust deeper.

"I love you" he whispered while slamming his cock into her as hard and fast as he could, "Baby Doll I fucking love you more than I can even-"

"I love you more" she countered with a nip to his ear and a whimper, "I am still so sorry I"

"Don't be, PLEASE don't be" he shook his head with a kiss to her nose, "I love you too fucking much to ever be mad at you for a second PLEASE"

"But I'm sorry" she sniffled and cried when he shook his head and rammed into her harder than ever and she gasped.

"Don't be" he shook his head, "Don't be Baby Doll don't ever be"

"But how do you know I did not mean it?" she reached up to touch his face and they kissed, "How do you know how much I love you forever and ever without thinking I am just going to make you sad?"

"I know you" he nodded with a bite to her neck and caressing of her face, "Nobody loves you like I do, nobody knows you like I do"

"No they do not, Jamie" she shook her head with a weak smile and they kissed, "You are perfect in every way"

"So are you"

"So will you please just listen to Bret and let Connor go away for a while? He is a big boy he can-"

"I'll call him back in a minute" he nodded with a growl into her neck, "Let me finish fucking your perfect pussy first."

"Mmmm" she chuckled lowly while whispering into his ear, "Talking dirty, are we?"

"Always" he pouted his lips and nodded much to her delight, "I just need you to cum for me, Baby Doll can you do that?"

"Mhmmm" curling her lips until they kissed she grinded into him twice as hard from underneath and came, hugging him close and panting until his release right after, "You are…" she gingerly sifted his hair with her fingers as his face buried deep into her neck as he came inside her, "too fucking perfect for anyone"

"Which is why you're not anyone but my perfect Baby Doll"

Hugging him close as they lied over the other on the table she whimpered a moment before nodding and kissing the crook of his neck, cold to everything around them but his skin was so warm. He was always warm and her name was tattooed on his wrist. That made her very very happy.

"I love how easy you get me off" she sighed with a shake of the head as they kissed, "It is pathetic."

"I like it!" he nodded with a grin as she leaned close and they made out some more, "After I call Bret and give him the green light I want you to put something sexy on" he nodded with a kiss to her lips, and she giggled.

"Sexy, huh?" her eyebrows rose and she lifted a leg around his waist so they kissed deeper.

"Hugh Hefner's in town and invited me a while back as a colleague to a party at the Moon Club at the Palms"

"He owns that" she giggled with a nod before frowning and petting his face, "But aren't you his competition?"

"Not exactly" he chuckled hoarsely and kissed her again, "I do movies, he does magazines. We're business partners."

"Ahhhh I see…" she nodded, "so you guys do joint events and stuff?"

"Indeed" he nodded with pouted lips, "When his stock was down I chipped in a bit and helped him out"

"Likansuk stock don't go down though"

"That's because movies are better than magazines" he winked at her and nuzzled her throat, "I said no a while back but I'm sure we can grace him with our presence and he'll be thrilled"

"He slated you to come anyway didn't he?"

"Of course" he nodded with a kiss to her throat, "He wanted you too but I wasn't going to answer for you"

"Why did you not bring it up to me?"

"I forgot" he was a man, and sometimes Mindy didn't remember they do things like that.

"So…" she shrugged and kissed him, "I should get an emergency hair and makeup job?"

"If you'd like" he nodded while running his fingers through her hair, "It's only gonna all come off later anyway"

"Oh, you mean when I get fucking smashed and make a porno with you?" she nodded and kissed him, "I like the way you think."

A strawberry hit James in the shoulder blade, and turning he grinned to see Elizabeth taking food off the table from her spot in the high chair and throwing it at them.

"LIZZIE BEAR!" he grinned and gently pulled out of Mindy before helping her sit up and grabbed the baby, "Are you making a MESS Lizzie Bear? Huh? You making a mess for Daddy and Mommy?"

She squealed and gave him a big kiss while holding his face until Mindy sat up and handed her Lammy, which she immediately nommed all over and smiled at them.

…

Hip-checking Cooper's door open Mindy sniffled and headed inside with a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

"Hi Bubblelicious" she sighed before closing the door behind her and sitting at his bedside at his pathetic state.

He lay there shriveled under the covered in a ball violently convulsing because he was so cold. The air conditioner had to be on because they lived in the middle of the desert, but it wasn't any cooler than usual. Cooper on the other hand, acted as if she'd dropped him off at her hometown of Toronto, Ontario Canada for the winter.

"Oh dear…" was all she could really say, rubbing his back and frowning before planting a nice-sized kiss on the top of his head. His reactions were so delayed it took him a few extra moments to realize that it was her hovering over him like that and not anybody else.

"Momma…!" he croaked miserably while crawling into her lap and snuggling her there, "Momma, Momma! Help me Momma"

"I am" she frowned and took a moment to just sit there and rub his back, "Has the itching started?"

"Itchy blood?" he nearly shot up like a daisy but she held him down, "Oh YES, Momma it's terrible! It's…" he growled and clawed at his skin until she pulled out a nail filer and started on his short nails so they couldn't break his skin, "Please Momma NO!" he lamented the way she was filing his nails but did nothing, "PLEASE Momma NO I gotta scratch with 'em! I gotta-"

"You gotta be a good Bub for me and do as I tell you, alright?" her fingers skimmed his hair and she frowned, planting a light kiss on his head before pulling gloves out from under the plate for him. They were the softest, fuzziest pink gloves she had which would easily prevent his fingers from doing damage to his skin. Otherwise he would be covered in sores and that just wasn't cool.

"O-okay Mommy…" he nodded while nuzzling his head against her chest.

"Here…" gently she patted his back and extended a hand forwards so he could place his trembling one in hers, "_da-me_." (give me)

Wordlessly he dropped his hand in hers and shivered as she gently pulled the glove over his fingers, making him cough as he watched before fidgeting and leaning so his head buried in the crook of her neck, which sent her into tears. His icy skin was coated in a sweat so cold it made a shrill run up her spine and he just held her and coughed.

"Mommy…" he whimpered while waiting for her to put the glove on his other hand, "Mommy, I…Mommy I love you Mommy please help me"

"I love you, Bub" she nodded and ran a hand over his hair, "You got sick lots today, didn't you?"

Sniffling he pointed to the bucket beside the bed and she nodded at it wordlessly, standing to go dispose of the bucket when he snuggled her so tight she couldn't.

"Oh Bub let me go get rid of this, let me please…"

"Momma don't leave me NO!" he screamed as she pushed up to go throw out the garbage liner covered in vomit before cranking up the heat in the hallway. It was a fever he needed to sweat out. Regardless of what anybody including James said about the heat Cooper needed it. The central air conditioning was shut off and the heat officially turned on. The kids could whine, complain, whatever…but they needed the heat on for their big brother. She changed the garbage liner before heading back in and sitting down on the bed so the shivering could somewhat subside.

"I want you to eat now Bub, okay?" she nodded while petting his hair and moving the plate into her lap, "Can you do that for me?"

"No" he snapped and kept his head in her lap, "I'll throw up, Momma I'll fucking-"

"No no no nonsense" she shook her head and speared a fluffy piece of pancake with her fork, "Do I ever lie to you?"

"…no"

"Then why can you not eat this pancake and be a good boy for Mommy?"

He snorted but didn't answer, spitting into the garbage bin and she frowned before nestling under his chin.

"Please Bub eat for me…I will do anything just eat for me"

"Why?" he snipped with averted eyes, "You don't…love me anyway. What's the POINT?"

"I DO love you Bub" she corrected with a sigh, "I love you more than anybody knows."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Prove it"

"I think this suffices" she nodded while motioning to the atmosphere around them, "I think I am defying my means of existence for you, Bub"

"Not to me"

"Here" breathing deeply through her nose Mindy leaned in and kissed him hungrily, pressing a hand to his face and more than willingly he kissed her back, ripping her close to his shaking body and kissing her down into the bed. At first he felt scared to add tongue but went for it anyway and she let him do it. "I love you, okay?" she sighed between kisses and he was too worked into it to answer. He couldn't get his body to stop shivering and itching from withdrawal but he could make out with her. Way to go Cooper. "Will you TRY to eat for me now?"

Wordlessly he nodded with her in his lap and forced the food down his throat. Even if he threw it up later he wouldn't truly vomit everything and he'd be getting some nutrient that he so desperately needed. As uncomfortable as he was to do so he had a new fire lit under his ass that actually made him want to eat so she could kiss him again.


	65. Chapter 65

**firewing pegasus:** What it comes down to really, is that since she feels Connor don't like her anymore, she's scared James will kick her to the curb. She won't ask James to pick her over his son because she don't believe that he will do so. She loves James more than anything; without him she would have blown her brains out long ago. Things used to be just fine with Connor and Mindy but once the whole Cooper thing happened it all started going to hell. It's sad really. **cathy **and **Esha Napolen: **Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Yeah James wasn't wanting to go along with it but he don't know what else to do really. Connor wants to go and pretty much any time they talk anymore ends up in a fight. Maybe some separation would make for some good overall (that's the main theory James is going to cling to anyway).

…

"Are you sure you can take care of him?" James asked Bret for the sixth time in the span of five minutes. He had called Bret back to let him know of his decision but already he was getting antsy just thinking about it. Sure Bret had watched Connor before but this was different. This was not only going to be for a longer period of time but if something happened Connor was going to be all the way in Canada and James would be in Las Vegas. James had never ever been that far apart from him ever and now facing that was causing him to nearly have an anxiety attack. "I mean, are you absolutely positively sure-"

"My answer isn't going to change just because you ask it a million different ways," Bret interrupted, sounding a bit exasperated with James at this point. "I can do this. I've babysat him before."

"But he's only been to Canada once and that was AGES ago!" James pointed out. "What if he decides he wants to go exploring and he runs away from you?"

"James-"

"Or what if he gets scared? Or what if he freezes to death? Canada is fucking cold you know."

"James come on-"

"Or what if-"

"James!"

James stopped and sighed unhappily. "I don't want him to go," he said softly.

"Obviously not," Bret said. "But didn't you start this conversation off by saying that this was for the best, at least for now?"

"Yeah…that don't mean I have to like it." James leaned back in his chair and chewed on his thumbnail. "He's one of my babies Bret."

"James, he's twenty three." Bret didn't know how many times they had gone over this and he wasn't sure how many more it was going to take before James calmed the hell down. "He's a grown up-"

"Age wise maybe. Mind wise though he's a baby." Score one James.

"Well maybe if you didn't TREAT him like a baby then he might possibly grow up a little bit." Score one Bret. "I know he only developed and matured to a certain point but I think you helped to give him a Peter Pan complex or some shit like that."

James looked down at his lap shamefully. "I know. I failed big time with him."

"Oh now come on, I didn't say-"

"But I did." It was easy for Mindy to say that Connor's issues weren't his fault and when he was with her he could accept what she said about it and go with it because she was his Baby Doll and he would always listen to her. But now that he wasn't in the same room as her, the knowledge that his son's mental state not only had to do with his relationship with Annabelle but also with his own refusal to see that the boy really really needed help. He had pulled Connor out of school during his junior high years because he had been angry at the teachers for always being on Connor's ass and by that point, Connor's issues with the other children had gotten out of control. Children are often cruel to anyone that is different than them and poor Connor always had to either scare them or beat them into leaving him alone. Even then though that didn't stop all the name calling and harassment. James always suspected the other parents helped feed it because a lot of them had gone to school with him and Annabelle and they always eyed Cooper and Connor like they were a couple of freaks. So James had just taken Connor out of the situation and went through a series of private tutors but they were all fired once they tried to point out the simple truth to him. Connor could barely do the work of a first grader and had skated through as far in school as he did because Cooper had done his homework and made sure he passed. "You know I could have gotten him help. There were ways he could have been helped but I chose not to because I couldn't acknowledge the truth."

"Well maybe it's not too late," Bret said, trying to look on the bright side so James would stop being so gloom and doom. "I know its late in the game but it's not like it's a completely hopeless situation."

"No but you know how Connor is. He won't want to do anything learning related. I made him feel like he doesn't need it and it frustrates him anyway because he doesn't know what he's doing."

"That's because nobody taught him the way he needs to be taught," Bret said. "I mean, I'm not a teacher by any means so I don't know what that way is, but Connor's not incapable of learning. I mean for fuck sakes, remember when he learned how to put those booby traps together?"

"Oh fuck, do NOT remind me of those," James groaned. "I NEVER want him building those things again."

"Me neither. But see, he did learn how to do them so he can be helped."

"But what about his uh…emotional immaturity?"

"Well now that one I'm not sure how that can be dealt with," Bret admitted. "That one is way beyond me."

"I've let him be a child for so long and it's not just something I can stop doing. He won't accept that kind of change."

"Well no, of course not. Maybe try being subtle and shit. You know, gradually changing tiny things that you do. Maybe that might help, who knows?"

"I know I don't," James said with a sigh. "I really fucking don't."

Now it was Bret's turn to sigh. "Now come on, don't be so hard on yourself. You've got a lot on your plate right now. There's Connor, there's Mindy and you've got six other babies you have to think of-"

"And Cooper," James said unhappily.

"Yeah and-wait what?" Bret knew all about the Cooper situation because James had told him about it a few weeks after he had almost killed the younger man in the kitchen. "He's back?"

"Yes…unfortunately. Baby Doll found him out on the streets and her and hooker brought him home and now he's upstairs, going through a god damn withdrawal because he got back on the drugs."

"Wow. And you're letting him stay?"

"Baby Doll wants him here."

"Why? He RAPED her."

"Yeah well she wants him here. And what she wants-"

"Oh my God you are so whipped."

"So?" James shrugged and propped his feet up on the chair across from him. "Your point being?"

Bret just chuckled dryly. What point could one possibly make against someone who not only knew they were whipped but absolutely enjoyed it as well. "So it's safe to assume that you and him have not made amends?"

"That would be the right assumption," James confirmed. "He's here because Baby Doll wants to help him. Believe me, I have no personal interest in forgiving him. And if I even catch him looking at her in a way I don't like-"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Bret requested. He could understand why James felt the way he did but to him, that was still Cooper. He and Cooper had always been close while Owen and Connor used to favor each other completely. It wasn't until Owen's tragic death over a decade ago that Bret and the devastated and traumatized Connor formed their own relationship.

"Fine." It was time to address a very important matter that had yet to be discussed. "How is Connor even getting there?" he asked. Even considering to have Connor fly out on his own was out of the question. Connor would never behave on an airplane if left to his own devices. Plus James was worried about something bad happening to him on the way if he was by himself. So yeah, someone being with him was an absolute must. "Do you want me to fly out with him or-"

"Actually I already talked to Nattie and she said she would swing by Vegas and pick him up before flying here to Canada," Bret told him.

"Oh." James looked over at Elizabeth, who was now throwing her blocks all across the room and getting mad because she couldn't escape her high chair to get them back. "Well that's good then."

"Yeah," Bret said reassuringly. "Nattie will take care of him."

"Uh huh."

"Da da da da!" Elizabeth yelled impatiently.

"Okay Lizzie Bear, I'm sorry." James got up and kissed the top of her head. "Bret I gotta let you go."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later then."

"Sounds like a plan to me." James hung up the phone and set it aside so he could pick up Lizzie Bear and smile at her. "You want to go into the living room and play with Daddy and Lammy?"

"Da!" She rested her head underneath his chin and babbled on in her totally adorable baby way.

"Is that so?" He sat down on the floor and set Elizabeth in front of her toys but she had no interest in them. She just crawled right back into his lap and hugged Lammy while resting her head against his chest, making his heart melt into a big old pile of goo right there on the spot.

The sound of giggling caught his attention and he looked up to see that Amber was sitting on the couch, watching him in amusement. "Come here Pumpkin," he said, happily motioning for her to sit down next to him.

Amber immediately got off the couch and sat down right next to James, resting her head on a part of him Elizabeth wasn't hogging. "So Connor's going away?" she stated this very matter of factly but he could tell this news really didn't upset her in the slightest.

"Just for a little while," James confirmed. He wrapped one of his arms around her and gave her a good squeeze. "He needs a little vacation, that's all."

Amber gave him a serious look, which was not a very good sign for the direction of this conversation. "I love you Daddy but I wouldn't be sad if Connor stayed away forever. He hates us you know."

"Amber!" James shook his head at her.

"Well he does!" Amber said defensively. "I'm only telling you the truth!"

"Sweetheart I know he doesn't act like it but-"

"No! Daddy don't make excuses for him." Amber did NOT want to hear it because she knew it wasn't true. And she wasn't going to let James hide behind lies just because it made him more comfortable. "He doesn't like us or Mommy because we need you and don't want him acting like a baby and trying to take away the attention we NEED! He's an ADULT! He can GROW UP!"

"Sweetheart it's not that simple. He's-"

"Retarded, I know."

"Amber Rose!" The tone he used made her shrink back and while he felt bad for that, he continued to shake his head at her. "I don't want to hear that from your mouth again, you hear me?"

"I didn't mean the stupid retarded," she said defensively. "I meant the medical retarded. I looked it up Daddy, that's what he is."

"I don't care," he informed her. "I don't want you saying that, you understand me?" He knew Connor didn't know the difference and he didn't want the kids just running around and saying it and hurting his feelings. That was just going to cause more problems that they really didn't need.

Amber curled her lips unhappily and flipped her hair in the most Mindy-like fashion possible. "Fine, whatever."

James shook his head and gave her an extra tight squeeze so she wouldn't try to storm off mad. "I didn't mean to snap."

She sniffled and folded her arms across her chest. "He don't understand that Mommy is sick."

"No, he don't understand a lot of things. It's part of his sickness."

"He calls me a nerd because I'm smarter than him," she informed him. "I think he's just jealous because he'll never be as smart as me. Even if he had a normal brain he would never be as smart as me."

"Well sweetie you're a genius," James pointed out. "Lots of people are never going to be as smart as you."

Amber grinned at that. "I know. That's why they're jealous. They can only wish they had a brain like mine."

Elizabeth stared up at her father for a moment before looking at Amber and blowing a giant raspberry at her.

"Is that your contribution to EVERYTHING Lizzie?" Amber asked as she giggled.

"DA!" Elizabeth grabbed on to James's shirt and pulled herself up to her feet so she could press her lips to his chin, making his heart melt all over again as he hugged her tightly.

…

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the house, Connor had barricaded himself in his room with the mailman, who was shirtless, tied up and gagged on his floor. He was in the mood to kill someone and this poor unfortunate soul was the person who had made the mistake of crossing him first. He had been planning on taking the guy up into his tree house but there had just been no way for him to haul the guy up there. He wasn't as strong as James and Cooper. He couldn't carry people around quite like they could. So, simply because it was easier on him, he brought the guy inside and locked him in his room. He knew he wasn't supposed to do that but he was doing it anyway. He was bored and he was going to kill this guy and that was going to be the end of the discussion.

"Now don't try to scream and get me in trouble," he told the man irritably as he grabbed his knife and kicked some stuff out of the way so he could actually get down on his knees next to the guy. Mindy HAD to have a clean house so naturally he had made the biggest mess of his room as he possibly could. It was a blatant obnoxious move on his part but he didn't care because he LIKED his room messy. Having it clean annoyed him. It felt weird and unnatural and he could never find anything once shit was all put away. He always fared better when everything was out and not hidden from him. "I know you're gagged but you better not scream too loud through it or Imma gonna hurt you worse."

The guy let out a muffled scream anyway and Connor smacked him across the face for it. Spike and Snoopy watched him, the goat chewing away on a pair of his ratty jeans and Snoopy just sitting and staring at him attentively. He had told them about going to Canada because neither of them had ever been there before and he thought they seemed very excited. Sure he hadn't been told that he was going yet but he knew that was just a matter of time. James was the only who was probably looking to keep him in the house at all. The others were probably all but ready to push him the hell out.

"It's not going to be for forever though," Connor reminded them. "It's only for a little while. If I stay away forever, I let them win and I won't do that. This was my house first and Daddy was mine before any of them. So there." He nodded in satisfaction even though neither of his pets were rushing to disagree with him before driving the blade of his knife directly into the mailman's chest.

The man's eyes widened in shock and he made some sort of noise but Connor couldn't really tell what it was. Not that he would have cared anyway. He was too busy putting his other hand on the handle of his knife and holding the man down by straddling him, slicing his way down to the guy's stomach, giggling madly as the blood just flooded out of the guy. The floor was being absolutely saturated with the blood and his clothes were rapidly being soaked as well but he couldn't really give a shit. He just kept slicing and slicing away, opening the guy up and peering into his insides. "Oooh! Pretty!" He put the knife aside and began pulling out the man's organs one by one, squeezing them and wrapping part of the large intestine around his neck like a scar and tossing the heart against the wall just to see if it would stick. It didn't, but it left a cool bloody mark in its place so he didn't complain too much about it.

"The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah," he sang softly under his breath as he took out the man's gag because he was dead and couldn't scream anymore. "Pliers….pliers…I need pliers!" He scrambled off the body and dived under his bed in search for the toolbox he had stolen from James ages ago that still hadn't been noticed missing. "Come on, I know you're here…ooh cereal!" He had an unopened box of Fruit Loops stashed under there and he set it aside before finally finding the tool box. "Yes!" He opened the box up and pulled out the pliers before crawling over to the body and straddling himself over the opened up chest and forcing the dead man's mouth open so he could start pulling out the guy's teeth one by one. He wanted to make a cool necklace with all the teeth but first he was going to have to find some string or something to use because he didn't think he had any. So, for the time being, he settled for pulling the teeth and stashing them away safely in his pocket.

Once he was finished, he stashed the body into his closet for safe keeping until he could get out into the garage and get the ax he knew James had in there. He would have tried dismembering the body by stabbing it over and over again and tearing away all the muscles but his arms got tired just by thinking about it. So into the closet the body went and he changed out of his bloody clothes and put on some nice clean ones before grabbing the box of Fruit Loops and leaving the room so he could see about getting something to drink while he ate.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Connor stopped and looked over to see Chelsea emerging from her room, looking all around for James. "I don't think he's up here," he told her.

"Daddy!" Chelsea said impatiently. She didn't give a damn about what Connor said. She wanted James right now and she wouldn't be happy until that happened.

Connor raised his eyebrows, knowing that he had heard Amber call Chelsea "stupid" before, which made her all kinds of appealing to him. He had no fucking idea what Autism was but out of all the little girls running around his house, she was the one he liked best. Sure she hogged James whenever she could but for whatever reason, he didn't think she was that bad. "Come here," he said, scooping up Chelsea and holding on to her tightly. "We'll go find Daddy together. How does that sound?"

"Daddy!"

He was going to just take that as a yes.


	66. Chapter 66

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **cathy**: Yes he is and because he's Connor.

…

"Mommy?" Scarlett asked while sitting on Mindy's bed braiding her mother's hip-length raven mop of hair, and Mindy could only pout her lips while watching Thorn and Tryg set up throw pillow barricades to attack each other.

"Yes, dearest?" she responded kindly as Scarlett smoothed her small fingers over the shiny pleated mermaid twist she was applying.

"Can you grow your hair to the floor and be like Rapunzel?" frowning she leaned all the way over Mindy's shoulder into her face and begged, "PLEASEEE?"

Mindy poked her tongue between her teeth for a moment before shaking her head, "Why would ya EVER want me to do somethin' like THAT?"

"So we can climb up it!" Tryg chimed in with a grin, "You're halfway there, Mommy!"

"Maybe halfway YES…" Mindy nodded with wide eyes while sighing and shaking her head, "but Mommy is not a beautiful blondie like all of YOU babies. Mommy is a icky blackhead with pasty skin and a fat ass."

"I think you're beautiful" Thorn nodded as did Tryg and Scarlett right away.

"Please…" her eyebrows rose and she shook her head with a grimace, "your beautiful gorgeous faces did not come from me. I was so ugly I had my old face ripped off and gotted a new one even though everybody hates it anyway"

"Well" Scarlett frowned and pouted her lips, "DADDY has brown hair so we did not get blonde from him"

"You are correct again" Mindy sighed before shaking her head, "You must be aliens."

"Mommy…" Amber pressed a hand to her forehead from the doorway while muttering before raising her voice and calling into the bedroom, "Mommy?"

"Yes, Ambie?" Mindy's eyes went to the doorway where Amber was standing meekly and she was on-alarm, "What's the matter, booboo what is it?"

"You need to see something" she nodded while extending a hand, "alone."

"Sheesh" Scarlett's eyebrows rolled and she waved her older sister off, "somebody better be DEAD going by the look on YOUR face."

"Mommy" Amber ignored Scarlett and waited mutely for her mother, "Does Daddy know Connor killed somebody upstairs?"

"What?" immediately alarmed, Mindy let Amber lead her to Connor's room and once they stepped inside Mindy's jaw just dropped. A hand went over her mouth and she just simply stared at the mess in disdain. "Do I even react?"

"I wasn't expecting you to" Amber frowned and shrugged it off solemnly, "He really hates you"

"I know" Mindy croaked before looking down at Amber and squeezing her hand, "believe me I know."

"What are you gonna do?" Amber frowned when Mindy just wrinkled her nose and shook her head, "Daddy won't listen to shit"

"I know"

"To him everything is just dandy because it's his kid"

"I know."

"Meanwhile if one of US acted this way at him"

"I would be down your throat so fast you wouldn't remember how to breathe when I was finished with you. He is your father, you respect him."

"Hmph" Amber snorted that one off appropriately, "that's a joke" Mindy immediately froze after those words left Amber's mouth, "he lets Connor make our lives hell every second of the day and we can't say jack shit about it."

"Why are you saying this?"

…

"So I figure if I run into any polar bears" Connor pulled a metal baseball bat out from beside him and showed James, Elizabeth, and Chelsea as they all sat on the couch in the den. Elizabeth was chewing on Lammy, but reached forwards to try and grab Connor's bat when a familiar face entered the room and she lit up.

"Mum mum mum!" she cheered while extending her arms, and both James and Chelsea lit up while Connor rolled his eyes.

"HI Lizzie Bear!" poking her tongue between her teeth Mindy giggled and pulled both toddler girls into her arms at the same time, "Heyy Chels!"

"HI Mommy…" Chelsea ran her fingers over the mermaid-like braid Scarlett managed to pleat her mother's hair into and smiled. James tried to smile fondly at her too, but the way Mindy completely ignored it let him know loud and clear that trouble was on the way.

"What do YOU want?" Connor hissed at her when Mindy shot him a cold glare and placed both babies down before pointing out the door.

"Leave"

"No"

"LEAVE!" she screamed with a stamp of her foot and Connor gripped the bat tightly in his hands before flipping over the couch to get in her face since she was only two feet tall. He could use her as a stepstool if he wanted or maybe as a tee for baseball. "Hit me" she nodded at him, not even caring at this point whether or not he followed through, "I DARE you. Put me out of my misery, you will be doing me a favor."

"Which is the LAST thing I wanna do!" Connor shouted before stomping out of the room leaving the couple and two babies. The fact that James didn't interject at all literally tearing Mindy up but she tried to ignore it.

"Baby Doll…" James frowned when she took a moment and held up a hand for him to stop.

"You let that pampered son of a bitch do whatever the hell he wants yet you DARE raise your voice to one of my children?"

"What?" his head shook and worriedly he got ready to lunge for her, "Baby Doll"

"Don't you fucking woo me out of this" her finger pointed his way now and she snarled, "I don't CARE what anybody does to me, Jamie I fucking despise myself…but don't you EVER yell at one of my children! EVER!"

"Sweetheart, I didn't I-"

"Amber told me differently, you son of a bitch" she growled before narrowing her eyes and speaking through barred teeth, "Being that nobody can say a FUCKING THING about Connor"

"I said I was sorry, please Baby listen to me!"

"NO!" shrieking she shook her head and grumbled, "YOU listen to ME! Being that Connor has made it MORE than clear that I am not his mother and have ZERO jurisdiction over him…YOU as a result have NO right to even LOOK at MY children the wrong way! They are NOT your kids! You have NO RIGHT" she had no idea how much she was stinging him, but was crying too hard to really care, "when all she did was tell you the truth!"

"I didn't need to hear it from her mouth"

"Oh, but you can hear that my daughters are all 'stupid', right? And my oldest is a 'nerd' that's all okay! Oh yes and let us not forget that I am apparently a nightmare compared to your PRECIOUS Mark who could not stand a damn THING you did besides fuck him!"

"NO Baby Doll I'm SORRY, please!" he stood off the couch and shook his head when she shoved him back and growled.

"SORRY MEANS NOTHING! You will not do SHIT about Connor because you live your life in fucking denial! The man is MENTALLY RETARDED! HE NEEDS HELP! LET DOWN YOUR FUCKING PRIDE AND HELP HIM! YOU HAD SEX WITH YOUR SISTER WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN? THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE DO NOT DO IT! IT'S SICK AND IT'S CRUEL! AND EVEN WORSE YOU LET IT FUCKING FESTER AND DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! WE ALL LIKE TO THINK NOTHING IS WRONG WITH OUR CHILDREN! MY BABY IS AUTISTIC SHE WAS BORN WITH HALF A HEART! AND I SUCKED IT THE FUCK UP AND DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT! I DID NOT SIT BACK AND FEED INTO IT LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!"

"SO what do you want me to do?" he tried to keep his voice down since Elizabeth was in his arm and he frowned, "Baby Doll"

"I will NOT have you shooting MY daughter down because she is right! If Connor gets free reign of mouth and actions then SO DOES SHE! SHE WAS NOT BEING MALICIOUS!"

"Look, sweetheart" his hand went over her arm and he frowned, "Connor doesn't know the difference and I didn't want the kids to go around saying it and hurt his feelings"

"Oh because they are TOTALLY the type to do that, right?" she snapped with a high voltage of venom, "Maybe in YOUR house that type of shit flies but unlike YOU I actually PARENT instead of letting them run fucking wild! Do you know what it FEELS LIKE to have the man who you swear is your father blatantly favoring his twenty-three-year-old over YOU under the age of SIX? I understand he is your special love child with your SPECIAL sister and that calls for excessive favoring so he can talk about her all god damn day right when he knows I am in the room when HE BARELY KNEW HER AT ALL but that is beside the point!"

"Then please, what IS your point?"

"You slit my fucking throat and I did not bat an eye! YOU did it! I do not fucking care Mom was inside you it was YOU! YOU SLIT MY FUCKING THROAT YOU WANTED ME DEAD!"

"NO!"

The baby started crying loudly but James was in too much of a frenzy to hush her.

"You only like her because she is YOURS and you can pretend she is a little fucking Annabelle!" With that she stormed out of the room a trembling shaking mess and didn't even try to look back.

…

Taylor and Kelly sat around Mindy's piano as the frustrated rockstar pounded away at the keys working on the piece she'd been entirely writing and composing for Cooper since her mind would not function on anything else. The fight with James had eaten away at her and she needed to get rid of it all any way she could. In fact he sparked another verse for her.

"_The promises we made were not enough…The prayer that we prayed were like a drug. The secrets that we sold were never known. The love we had the love had we had to let it go….!" _She belted that note ridiculously long and didn't even care, "_Tell me would you kill to save for a life? Tell me would you kill to prove you're right? Crash, crash, burn, let it all burn! This hurricane's chasing us all underground…" _panting a moment she leaned forwards and went to add a pretty string of opera notes but caught herself in front of her audience and stopped, "What?"

"Do you think he's really gonna do it?" Kelly asked while rubbing Mindy's back on the bench next to her gently, "Is he really gonna send Connor away?"

"For what?" Mindy snorted, "A week? Three days? Please" she waved it off, "I am done."

"You were REALLY shooting the shit with him again" Taylor nodded with raised eyebrows and a frown, "He wouldn't divorce you, would he?"

"Hah" Mindy could only knowingly shake her head, "If CONNOR asks? Watch how fast that happens."

"And where do the kids go?" Taylor frowned when Kelly raised a hand meekly and answered that.

"Me! Kane used to make me babysit them ALL the time!"

"Honestly…" Mindy clamped a hand in her hair and shook her head, "I am living on borrowed time at this point. I bited too many bullets and he is going to just say fuck it and kick me away"

"No…!" Kelly shook her head when Mindy shrugged.

"It is what it is."

"I think this is hurting you a lot more than you're making it seem" Kelly pointed out wisely before shrugging, "that's just me."

"I don't know…" Taylor curled her thin lips and giggled, "She's pretty badass when she wants to be…I wouldn't mess."

"I love being psychoanalyzed when I am right here listening in the room" Mindy snipped sarcastically before pushing off the bench and leaving to go cry somewhere. The two girls could only exchange sorry glances.

…

James stood in front of the microwave heating up a bottle for Elizabeth when Mindy slammed a hand to the microwave and caught his attention with bleary eyes.

"Jamie…" the very distressed way that rolled off her tongue had his silent attention, "I didn't mean to yell at you…" tears streamed down her face in rivers when James ripped her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head as hard as he could.

"I love you, Baby Doll I love you so fucking much"

"I am sorry" she croaked with a dreary nod and frowned against his chest, "but I can no longer live with him."

"Baby Doll, sweetheart princess"

"Can't you see?" with quivering lips her head shook in apprehension, "He's tearing us apart…!"

"No…" he frowned and nestled her under his chin harder, "Nothing will ever tear us apart, Baby Doll"

"I don't want it to but I KNOW you will!" she sobbed into his chest and cried loudly, "If Connor wants you to leave me you will leave me"

"No! Are you-"

"He HATES me darling!" she nodded with a heavy sniffle and shook her head, "but I cannot deal with him, I can NOT Jamie I can NOT any longer! Put me in an institution I do not care, but I will blow my FUCKING brains out if I live with him any longer"

"And I'm sending him away to Canada for a little while, Baby Doll" he nodded and tried to kiss her even though she resisted any way she could to lessen attachment on her end, "Maybe we can work things out"

"IT WILL NEVER WORK OUT!" she cried while nestling into his skin and holding him, "He already told you he is leaving, so I will go pack instead so you can be with him"

"I want to be with YOU, Baby Doll"

"Bullfuckingshit" she scowled with a shake of the head, "I know the truth, Jamie and I am SORRY I cannot love Connor! I just cannot anymore! I DID once yes until everything went to shit because REAL Mommy came back and he did not want a part of me any longer."

"Baby that's not true"

"I am nothing but a cheap replacement you found begging for money on the side of the road with five little babies to care for without the twenty-three-year-old pain in the ass constantly annoying and trying to make my babies sad."

"And the time will do GOOD, sweetheart"

"I do not believe so…" she frowned and pulled back when he tried to kiss her even though she wanted his lips more than anything. She wanted his mouth to close over hers and for him to hold her tight and talk to her about how much he loves her all day but got none of that. She wouldn't let herself have it even though she wanted to and her heart was James. Her fucking soul was James and she had the sear across her throat to prove it. Nobody could argue such logic.


	67. Chapter 67

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Thank you and it definitely would not be good if she ever were to leave him. He would not be able to accept that at all. **cathy**: We'll find out if it does soon enough. **NeroAnne:** It does suck. They went from not fighting to fighting over every little thing. Definitely not fun at all.

…

Cooper was so fucking cold. He hadn't known it was this possible to be this cold. He buried himself even further inside of his blankets, but not only did they fail to provide any relief from the cold but they made him itch as well. Fuck, why was he so itchy? It felt like thousands upon thousands of bugs were crawling all over his skin and he couldn't do anything about them because Mindy had clipped his nails. God why had she done that? What had she been trying to do? Yeah maybe he wouldn't normally want to scratch himself up all to hell but he had to stop this itching. He fucking had to make it go away. It was going to literally drive him insane if he didn't.

His stomach churned unpleasantly yet again and he struggled to get himself free of the blankets so he could have his arms free, ending up falling out of the bed in the process. He banged himself up pretty good but he hardly even cared at the moment. He was too busy sticking his head into bucket and throwing up inside of it. He had always violently despised being sick so this was absolute for him. He tried to force himself to stop but his body had other ideas and made him keep puking until anything and everything that had been put in his body recently was out.

Breathing heavily, he just keeled over and laid there on the floor, pulling his legs up to his chest and weakly hugging them to it. He had to get out of there and score something. He didn't care what it was at this point. As long as it was a drug and he could get high from it, he would take it. Anything had to be better than this.

"Momma?" he called out, his voice so weak that it barely even projected at all. He whimpered softly and began dragging himself across the carpet so he could get to the door. He had to get out of there. Unless Mindy would bring him stuff then he had to get out of there. He couldn't score if he stayed cooped up in the house. "Momma?" He tried to pull himself over again but he had to stop and start compulsively scratching at every part of his body that he could reach. It didn't help of course. With no nails it was basically just skin rubbing against skin. "Fuck fuck fuck," he whimpered. He looked around his room through teary eyes, rapidly going into a panic until he saw a hard cover book sitting underneath his desk. He couldn't see the cover because of the way it had fallen and that was fine with him. He didn't give a damn what book it was. All that mattered to him was the sharp corners it had.

He forced his body to start cooperating with him again and dragged himself over to his desk, almost passing out on the way there. He managed to stay conscious though and he snatched up the book and immediately started scratching himself with it. He was doing it much too hard and he was leaving big marks in his wake but he didn't care. It felt so fucking good to finally be able to itch so he just kept doing it over and over again, not stopping until he couldn't keep a hold of the book anymore.

"Fuck me," he groaned as it slipped out of his fingers. He took a couple of deep breaths and glanced back towards his bed. It was only a couple of feet away but at this point that might as well have been a thousand. He made a half hearted attempt at getting back to the bed but he couldn't manage it. He was too fucked up. Fuck, when was this going to end? He couldn't take it. His whole body was shaking like crazy and his stomach was starting to turn into knots again. "Oh fuck me." He didn't have anything left to throw up. How could he be feeling sick again?

He stared at the bed longingly, wanting to get back in it and curl up underneath his blankets and not get up ever again. But even more than that, he just wanted to get up and get out so he could go get high. He was too weak to stay like this. He had tried but this was obviously not going to work out. If he couldn't just die he was too weak to go on like this. To survive he needed the drugs. It was as simple as that.

Despite thinking all of this through, he had neglected one very important fact: he couldn't fucking move. Every time he tried he just felt more and more sick. The distance between him and the bed was just a foot but it felt more like a hundred. And the distance between him and his drugs? Forget about it. It might as well have been in another galaxy. Crying softly to himself, he curled himself into the fetal position and just laid there, hating himself for being such a pathetic mess. Honestly, he really just wanted to die right then and there. This was too much. He couldn't take it and really, everyone would just be much better off if he was put out of his own misery.

…

James really wished his life could just be constantly simple and not complicated. Really, was that too much to ask? He liked to think it wasn't. Considering the crap he had gone through throughout the course of his life, he would have loved to have it all be smooth sailing for his remaining years on this planet. But alas, that would mean he could have his way and that just wasn't allowed apparently. Not totally. Something had to be wrong and right now, it was the business between Mindy and Connor. He honestly was stuck in a very shitty position between the two of them. He understood Mindy's side and he also sympathized with Connor because he was just so used to being the baby and now that had changed. Change wasn't easy to begin with and it was a lot harder for Connor to accept than most people. He lacked the understanding that was needed to accept it.

_But he seemed to accept it before,_ James thought to himself as he headed up to Connor's room. He had been informed of the dead body Connor had up there so now he had to deal with that mess of a situation. _Things were fine before…where the hell did it go wrong?_

"Connor?" He didn't bother to knock on the door before entering the room. He went in there and found Connor chopping up their mailman's body with his ax, which made him shake his head in disapproval. "Connor Michael Lawson! What have I told you about you bringing victims into this house?"

Connor sighed loudly and continued with his dismembering. "I'm not supposed to," he answered. "But I had to!"

"Why? Why did you have to?"

"Cuz…"

"Because why?"

"I dunno! Stop with the hard questions, you're being mean! Besides, it's not like you've never broken that stupid rule anyway. You killed that pizza guy awhile back in here and you killed Trish in the house back in LA. So you've got no room to talk." Connor blew a raspberry at James to emphasize his point and tried to go back to chopping the body up but James quickly grabbed the handle of the ax and took it away from him. "Daddy!"

"No Connor, you're not doing this anymore," James informed him.

"Why not?"

"Because you might hurt yourself and you're fucking up the floor."

Connor snorted and rolled his eyes. "Since when do YOU care about stuff like that?"

"Just-"

"It's HER isn't it? You never cared about stupid stuff like that before SHE-"

"Connor stop it," James snapped sharply, making the younger man reluctantly fall silent. "Just stop it, okay." He glanced down at the body (which was most of the way dismembered now) and all the blood that had soaked into the carpet before looking back at Connor. "Go get me some large trash bags and some bleach. We're going to bag this thing up and see if we can get rid of these stains before we go."

"Where are we going to go?" Connor asked, putting a piece of his hair into his mouth so he could chew it.

"We're going to take a trip out to the desert to get rid of this mess," James answered as he reached out and forced Connor to take his hair out of his mouth.

Connor pouted his lips and shook his head. "I don't wanna go. I wanna go get ice cream instead."

"Yeah well too bad," James said, sounding much more stern than he normally did when he dealt with Connor's antics. In his own subtle way he was trying to enforce some actual parenting skills. He already really didn't care for it because he saw the look that flashed across Connor's face but he hid it as best as he could. Connor could not just bring people into their house and kill them. It was too risky, especially considering that Connor was not a careful person to begin with. "You made the mess so you're on cleanup duty with me."

Connor scowled and folded his arms over his chest. "Can I at least get ice cream afterwards?"

"…We'll see." James started trying to shoo Connor towards the door. "You and I are going to have to have a talk while we're out so-"

"Ugh!" Connor stomped his foot in annoyance. "I'm sorry I killed the guy here. I won't do it again. What's there to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk to you about this. I want to talk to you about something else."

"Do we gotta?"

"Yes! Now get me the damn trash bags!"

"UGHHH!" Connor stomped out of the room to finally do what he was told and James just shook his head and sighed. "Fuck fuck fuck…this is not going to go well."

…

Twenty minutes later James and Connor were speeding down the road, heading straight towards the desert so they could dispose of the body in piece. James was silent and contemplating the conversation that needed to take place between him and Connor. Connor of course was oblivious to what his father was thinking. He was too busy fiddling with the radio. "Daddy it's all commercials!" he whined. "It's no fair, I don't want commercials!"

"Well maybe you should just give one of the stations a chance to get off commercial," James said with a shake of his head. "You can't keep changing the channels and expect result."

"Bah humbug infidel."

James started to roll his eyes but stopped and perked up when the sound of Mindy's voice began to come through the radio. Connor wasn't so happy to hear that though. Before the song could get to the chorus he just shut the radio off completely. "I don't like music anyway," he snipped childishly.

"Oh Jesus," James said in exasperation. He shook his head and gave Connor a tired look. "What is going on with you lately?"

Connor frowned and refused to look back at James. "I dunno what you're talking about."

"Your sudden hatred toward Baby Doll," James clarified. "I don't get it. You were all for having her be a part of our lives and now you just turned against her."

Connor shrugged. "So?"

"So I don't like it."

"Well she started it."

James tightened his grip on the steering wheel and shook his head. "No she didn't Connor."

"How do you know?"

"I-"

"And why do you get say anything about it? You don't blame her for anything, even the stuff that's her fault."

"Connor-"

"She was mean to you before."

"Well you've been mean too lately."

"Yeah well I don't lie and say I don't remember it."

"Connor she wasn't lying," James said in exasperation. He pulled over because he figured they were far enough out that nobody was going to see them and plus he couldn't concentrate on driving while also having this conversation. "She has a DISEASE! She's SICK! We've talked about this before. Her brain is-"

"Broken."

"No, sick. It's sick and it makes her hear and see things that aren't there and makes her believe things that aren't true. And when she gets these delusions she's gonna say stuff-"

"Mommy was scared of her."

That comment was so out of left field that James had to stop and blink for a moment. "What?" he finally managed to say.

"Mommy was scared of her," Connor repeated. "She thought she was dangerous, I could tell."

James sighed and slowly shook his head. "Your mother was scared of a lot of people. If she had gotten more time to get to know Baby Doll even better-"

"I miss Momma. I want her to come back again."

"Connor she can't-"

"Sure she can. She did it once she can do it again." Connor nodded along to his own belief before getting out of the car.

"Oh Jesus," James muttered under his breath. Was this the root of Connor's behavior? He was rejecting Mindy for Annabelle's sake? That seemed to be the case and it worried James immensely.

"Daddy come on!" Connor shouted impatiently. "Hurry up! I want the ice cream sometime today!"

James sighed loudly and got out of the car. "Connor listen to me," he said firmly, the disposal of the body forgotten for the time being. "Mommy can't come back, okay? She's not going to come back-"

"Yes she will!" Connor yelled angrily. "She will when she finds out how MEAN Mindy is being!"

"Baby Doll is not-"

"YES SHE IS! All she does is want to keep you away from me!"

"No, that's not true, okay? I know this is hard but you gotta learn to grow up a little and-"

"SEE? You're doing it AGAIN!"

"Doing what?" James asked in confusion. "I don't understand."

Connor shook his head, tears of frustration starting to come into his eyes. "You did this with Coopy too!"

"Do what? Connor I don't understand!"

"It's always us that has to shut up and get over it! Mark was an MEANIE but you expected Coopy to just shut up and get over it because YOU loved him! And now I'm supposed to just go along with whatever you guys want because SHE don't like me!"

"Connor stop," James pleaded. "Come on, it's not like that."

"YES IT IS!" Connor's voice nearly went completely hoarse from his screaming. "Yeah she's sick and her brain is bad but my brain isn't good either! I know that Daddy. Amber so gladly told me just like everyone else around me likes to say it when they don't think I'm listening. I have a bad brain and I'm stupid! I've ALWAYS been that way and I can't just change because she says I have to. It's NOT FAIR I don't know how! And she wants to keep you from me to punish me."

"No Connor, that's not how it is," James said with a shake of his head. "It might feel that way but it's not."

Connor snorted in disbelief. "If she had her way, she wouldn't share you with anyone at all, even the dumb babies."

"The babies are NOT dumb," James scolded, hopping on the defense for all the kids. "Don't say that they are."

"Oh but they can say that I am?"

"Well if you get to say whatever you want-"

Connor rolled his eyes. "I wanna go home," he announced. "I wanna go home and talk to Coopy before I go to Canada."

James shook his head. "I don't want you near him."

"Why not?" Connor asked angrily.

"Because!"

"That's not fair Daddy!"

"I don't care. I don't want him in the house anyway-"

"Why are you punishing me?" Connor whined. "What did I do to you?"

"Connor I'm not punishing you! I want to protect you!"

"BULLSHIT! You're a LIAR! You know I need Coopy but you want to keep making him go away! And it's NOT FAIR! I NEED Coopy! I NEED him and you're mean for making him stay away!"

"He hurt Baby Doll-"

"And he said he was SORRY! And she's OVER it! She has to be! She hangs all over him when you're not there to watch! Besides, if he's as bad as you say, why did you leave her in the house to get raped by her again?"

SLAP!

Stunned silence took on a whole new meaning after that one action. Connor's head was rocked to the side and he was absolutely stunned. And James…well horrified at himself would be putting it too lightly. He had just slapped Connor across the face. He had just SLAPPED his own son. Never before had he ever done anything like that. Not ever. He hadn't ever really even spanked Connor in his entire life. Maybe a swat on the ass on very rare occasions but that was it. He had fucking swore to himself that he would never raise a hand to his own child. He had grown up a victim of child abuse and he knew how fucking horrible it was. He swore his kids would never go through anything like that but yet he had just smacked his son for saying something he didn't like…just like his parents used to do to him.

"Oh God, Connor I'm sorry!" James grabbed a hold of Connor and shook his head, his heart breaking at the sight of the red mark on Connor's pale face. "I'm so fucking sorry! Connor look at me. Please look at me! I didn't mean it I swear!"

Connor didn't respond. That was what was really scaring him. He wasn't crying or shouting that James was mean. All he had done was stiffen up at James's touch and was now doing his best to avoid any and all eye contact.

"Connor please!" James pleaded. He tried to force eye contact but he was getting nowhere. "Please just look at me. I'm sorry! Connor…"

Without saying a word Connor slipped out of his grasp and tried to get back in the car. James went to reach out for him but he flinched…he flinched so violently that it just added to level of hatred James felt towards himself. "I want to go home," Connor whispered, getting into the car and slamming the door shut behind him. He had gotten into the back so he could be as far away from James's seat as possible on the way back. James almost opened up the car door to try to apologize again but then he spotted Connor wringing his hands together in the way Annabelle always did when she was scared and that was it. He sank down to the ground and buried his face in his hands, wishing the earth would just open up and swallow him whole for doing the one thing he had sworn he would never do to any of his children.


	68. Chapter 68

**jadeMK11**: James will be beating himself over that for sure. And Mindy will definitely be in taking care of Cooper again, which won't thrill James very much at all. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"You know…" James frowned while lolling his head back in the whirlpool bathtub Mindy had forced him into upon returning home because he looked like he needed it; Mindy immediately was behind his head with what could have passed as a professionally rolled black towel so his head could be comfortable enough, "the vow I made to myself before I became a father for the first time…?"

"I do" with curled lips she nodded before leaning down and giving his forehead a big kiss, "and I think you for once are being melodramatic instead of ME."

"But Baby Doll…" his voice had gotten hoarse and weak, all he could really do was croak and Mindy just sat on the rim of the tub in a blood red see-through nightie with a bar of brown sugar soap in her hand, rubbing it against her small palms before squeezing his shoulders and kneading the muscles. "I HIT Connor! Right in the face!" with a heavy sigh he looked off to the side and frowned until her fingers turned his head her way and they shared a soft, sweet kiss.

"I DOUBT it was that hard, Jamie…"

"No, it was it was it was!" his teeth started chattering he was so ashamed and with gentle shushing she buried her face in his neck.

"Jamie…" while gently kissing his throat her hands ran the soap along his collarbone and arms before dipping them in the bubbling water since the jets were blasting into James's upper and lower back. There was plenty of room for her in there too, but she did more good coaching close to his face and she felt kind of pretty in the red lingerie. "What did it?"

"He…" he ran a hand through his hair when she took the hand in hers and squeezed it tight, resting it on one of her breasts while kissing his damp hair until it was smoothed down.

She really had gone full-out with this. She had peppermint scented candles lit everywhere and the lights all dimmed super low. Elizabeth was asleep in her crib in their bedroom while the actual door was locked as not to welcome any interruptions. They needed this. They needed the time alone. James had come home a complete fucking wreck and something needed to be done about it before he hurt himself.

"I love you…" she cooed while nipping his ear and kissing into his hair again, "I do not believe you did it to hurt him, darling I know you better than that"

"I don't know what I was thinking" quickly he shook his head to vindicate himself, "All I heard was him using Cooper to rape you again and I lost it"

"Sssshh ssshhh ssssh Jamie darling, it is okay!" nodding she pressed another kiss to his forehead and encouraged the hand to close over her breast, "Listen to me…" pouting she looked him in the eye sternly and furrowed her brow, "are you listening?"

He nodded.

"Whatever it was Connor said…he did it to upset you" she nodded gravely and kissed his lips, "He WANTED a reaction out of you, and he assumed since you let him walk all over you that you would let him get away with anything…" she frowned, "that is BAD."

"But Baby Doll…" whimpering he shook his head, "you know the vow, you know I don't want to turn into them"

"I KNOW, darling…" much to her shock she wasn't getting irritated by him, "and you will NEVER be them, darling! Never EVER! You maded them goned forever and you killed them both and now you can just be yourself" she nodded before leaning over so their chests pressed and they kissed, "Would I ever lie to you?"

"He wasn't speaking to be, Baby Doll" his eyes averted and he frowned, his lips trembling until she lifted his chin to pull him out of it and pet his face as lovingly as she could, "He didn't say a fucking word because he KNOWS he fucking knows that I'm becoming them and-"

"JAMIE!" she shouted and pet his face until his eyes met hers, "That is not even a fair assumption! Connor NEVER KNEW Mom! Not even when she came back did he ever TRULY meet her, alright? He has NO WAY to know outside of what anybody has told him so in that case if he DID say anything about it he has no fucking clue what he is talking about and NEEDS to learn to stay out of certain things"

"I hit him though…" he dropped his head in her neck so she eased herself on top of him in the water so he could coddle her easier, "I fucking hit him, Baby Doll what the hell do I do?"

"You are a daddy" she shrugged and shook her head, "You do nothing."

"No that's EXACTLY what my parents did to me"

"Did he genuinely upset you?" she waited impatiently and he answered that with a weak nod, "Then stop it he deserved what he got."

"No"

"James…" now that the real name was used he had no choice but to pay attention, "I do not care who you are or where you think you come from…NOBODY has EVER gone through what I did for the amount of time that I did as a baby. They would have given my mommy and daddy the death penalty for what they did to me WORSE than fucking anyone has ever dealt with…" her head shook and she kissed the tips of his fingers, "but that does not mean when I became a Mommy I vowed never to whack any of my babies if they do something very bad. That is unrealistic Jamie. They are babies they NEED to know the difference between right and wrong. They will not love you any less because at the end of the day you did your job right. I mean…" she shrugged and kissed his temple, "I whack 'em upside the head every now and then…does that make me a baby abuser?"

He shook his head and frowned, "But I hit Connor"

"And what? Is Connor made of solid gold and cannot be reprimanded? Is THAT what you are saying? Is he any more important than the little babies?"

"No, Baby Doll…"

"No, Jamie listen…" gently she massaged his scalp and straddled his lap while kissing him, "Sometimes you HAVE to be a Daddy and not always his friend. It is never too late to change, Jamie. I am not saying you have to beat the fucking hell out of him, but I AM telling you to correct his bad behavior as his daddy. I am not saying I am the bestest mommy in the world AT ALL-"

"You are"

"BESIDES the point" she rolled her eyes before placing a hand on his chest and kissing him deeper, "I teach my kiddies MANNERS, Jamie. I mean…" she ran a hand through his hair and shrugged, "I know you want him to love you and never be mad at you…" she shrugged and brushed her lips against his, "but it is when they are angry at you that you know you are doing your job right as a parent. They are NOT going to always like everything you do, but that is part of coping skills and all that shit. You think my babies love me all the fucking time?" she snorted and shook her head, "They think I am CRAZY but they respect me for trying. Connor does not respect you at all and clearly neither does Cooper. If you let them get away with everything they lose that fear of authority and it gets into their everyday lives, Jamie. I KNOW you think you are the worst person ever but you really are not. I love you SO much and think you are perfect, but I hate seeing you so sad."

He nodded and kept his face buried in her neck, too scared to really say anything when she drove her tongue into his mouth and hugged his neck, melting the moment he eagerly returned the kisses and reached under her nightie to rub the warmth between her legs and get her ready for him.

"I can't say not to him, sweetheart I never could"

"But you say no to my babies just fine" immediately she paused and stared at him coldly, waiting for a response when he held her face in his hands and crushed his lips to hers to get her mind off the subject. Of course her mind wasn't actually off the subject but he didn't want to argue about it. He had her in see-through lingerie in a bathtub on top of him. "Jamie…" she frowned and shook her head because he was too busy kissing her neck and fingering her to answer her comment, "Jamie please listen to me"

He knew if he did that would result in a fight. He just got out of a fight he really didn't want to address what just came from her mouth. She was just baiting him and he didn't want it. He wanted to enjoy the moment with her and make it last as long as he could.

Her arms hooked around his neck and she inhaled sharply the moment his hard cock slid inside her.

"Jamie…" her fingers combed his soft dark hair and she frowned, "please listen to me, I'm-"

He kissed her and thrust his hips into her as hard as he could, making her gasp and eventually stop talking. Normally she had no problem making love to him, it was her favorite thing in the world because James was her favorite person in the world, but now something strange was coming over her and made her worried. James was using her like a blowup doll to make her forget the issue and also shut the hell up. Clearly he didn't want to hear her talk and by using her he was clearly taking advantage that she would do anything for him whenever he wanted.

…

Some hours later they both lied in bed completely damp and making the sheets damp too. They were both afraid of bringing Elizabeth into the bed with them because of the fear of her catching a cold, but worse yet James really wasn't speaking much to Mindy.

She lied on her back happily taking his cock inside her because he felt so fucking perfect but this was it. This was his avoidance of what needed to be discussed and she was crying.

"I love you, Jamie" eagerly she waited for his mouth to drop and kiss her, which of course he did. She clamped to him so he wouldn't go anywhere but the fear of why he hadn't been answering was eating her alive. The truth sat if the back of her mind and it hurt. He'd promised to love them all as his own and he completely was disregarding that and making them strangers in their own house. As it was they all hated her for marrying James (except Chelsea of course) because of how obsequious she'd become the moment they met. Never had she been all over anyone the way she was James and none of them liked it, especially when it was becoming clear that he loved his own kids before any of them were even a thought.

…

"I mean, you guys might be overreacting…" Kelly frowned and ran a hand through her hair while sitting on Scarlett's gigantic beautiful canopy bed, "Your dad loves you guys so much"

"I don't talk to Connor anymore" Tryg announced unhappily while plopping on the ground and grabbing Thorn's Barbie dolls to smash them together as if they'd turn into confetti, "He hates Mommy. Nobody can hate Mommy"

"I don't hate Mommy" a much cleaner-looking Taylor smiled a bit sweetly while brushing Chelsea's hair and shaking up the pink nail polish to apply to the baby's tiny fingers.

Taylor had her stringy blonde hair cut significantly so it sat just below her shoulders while her makeup was done much more natural since Mindy hired a team of people to give her a makeover. Taylor's wardrobe was actually solved by digging through Mindy's drawers at first, but then realized Mindy's clothing was so small and her legs—though skinnier than anyone in that house—were too long to wear Mindy's midget pants or anything like that. Mindy had taken her shopping and was trying to get the whole 'keep your act ON the stage' mindset.

Mindy was heavy against 'living your act' because she did it for too long and it had taken over her life. She decided to separate work and play by wearing the preppiest most expensive girly designers during her home time and rock out the Elvira look only onstage or during public appearances.

"Me neither" Thorn sighed while painting Oxa's claws with purple nail polish, "I am happy for you Tryggy" she leaned over and gave her little brother a punch to the arm, "Welcome to the Dark Side…we have cookies."

"You stole that off a t-shirt!" Scarlett snapped with a stamp of her foot, "I saw that in Hot Topic with MOMMY!"

"When were you EVER in Hot Topic without shitting yourself?" Amber shook her head with a snicker while playing Barbie Race and Ride on Playstation 3.

"I have TOO!" Scarlett shouted with a stamp of her foot.

"Oh yeah?" now Amber was just fucking with her, "When?"

"Mommy needed those UGLY scary armbands with the CHAINS all over and the scary belts with the spikes-"

"Studs" Amber corrected but she wasn't listening.

"Whatever. They're ugly."

"Tell Mommy that"

"I did" Scarlett lamented while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"And what did she say?" Thorn chimed in, now interested.

Reluctantly Scarlett drew in a long breath and sighed, "There are gothic devil-worshipping freaks out there who actually appreciate Mommy's style of dress and have made her a style icon"

"Yep" Amber nodded while staring at her screen, "that's something Mommy would say."

"Does Connor know you're not speaking to him anymore?" Taylor frowned and Tryg could only shrug.

"He don't care. He only cares about himself."

"YES…" Kelly groaned, "he does…I don't know how Taryn managed to do it"

"Was that the other blonde who follows Mindy everywhere?"

"Yeah" Kelly nodded to Taylor with a frown, "She can't come back for a REALLY long time but Connor liked her because she really only paid attention to him"

"He wouldn't LET her pay attention to us" Scarlett snapped while hugging Kelly and snuggling into her chest, "Aunt Taryn was OUR aunt before Connor decided to STEAL her! She wanted to play with US!"

"I think that could be why I'm on his shit list" Kelly cringed and ran her fingers through Scarlett's pin-straight blonde locks, "though everyone in this room seems to be."

"Sorry Taylor" Thorn sighed while looking at her, "You are pure Connor-meat when he gets his hands on YOU."

"Great" that was all she needed to hear, "When is he going to Canada again?"

"I don't know…" Kelly frowned and checked the locked doorway before frowning, "I hope it's soon. Min is really out of the loop with the whole thing she doesn't know jack, I've tried talking to her about it."

"She's on the verge of divorce" Taylor frowned and shrugged, "I would be upset too, James is really cute"

"I think his brains are in his biceps sometimes though" Kelly sighed with a shake of the head, "He's really emotional for a guy."

"IS he?" Taylor gasped and shook her head, "But he's so big"

"Yeah but you haven't seen him when he gets in a fight with Min…" she turned almost green and shook her head, "it's not pretty."

"Does he like…" Taylor cringed, "cry?"

"OH yeah!" Kelly chuckled and held a hand over her mouth so no one could hear her, "It's totally cute but he gets like a girl when he's sad."

"Does he pop her birth control or something?"

"She doesn't take it anymore" Amber corrected from across the room while making her dapple grey horse named Moonbeam jump over a fallen log in the woods, "She can't have babies, remember?"

"Oh god, I forgot…" Taylor frowned when Kelly decided to be a bit of a bitch.

"Forget that article in the tabloids, huh?"

"Uh…" Taylor shrugged and tucked some hair behind her ear nervously, "I don't remember, I…"

"What are you gonna do now that Min's decided to keep you around?"

"What do you mean?" Taylor frowned when Kelly shrugged and leaned back against the bedpost.

"Well…you were a hooker, weren't you?"

Ruefully Taylor nodded.

"What now? Do you go back home? Or…?"

"I don't know" she frowned and shrugged, "Mindy's been so good to me, but I feel so bad freeloading"

"Don't" Kelly waved her off with a snort, "I can't stay here forever anyway she needs a nanny for the babies."

"What's that job entail?" Taylor pouted her lips when Kelly giggled and excitedly ran down the list.

"Well, you live here for FREE, eat for FREE, get your own room with whatever the hell you want in it you design it, you watch the babies who are SO well behaved trust me, play with them whatever, hang out with Min WHENEVER you want, she takes you shopping, she takes you out to lunch and dinner, she pays for your car, gas, everything you seriously basically live your dream life for free. As someone like you I would totally consider the job Min's such an awesome friend."

"Really?" Taylor grinned and Kelly nodded.

"Totally. She only bites in the beginning…make sure you can really handle her."

"I heard she's a bit snippy"

"A bit?" Kelly snorted, "Hah. She invented a new definition of the word."

"So…" Taylor shrugged, "How does one come about nannying for the biggest name in the world?"

"Well" Kelly sighed and hugged Scarlett close, "Just do what you're doing now and you've got it."

"Really? No interview? No…?" Taylor was just plain stunned, and Kelly nodded right away.

"Nothing. Min don't play around with that shit. Trust me; if she's kept you around this long she likes you."

…

Opening the door just a crack, Taylor nervously turned to Mindy who gave her an encouraging push and they both entered the room with warm fuzzy blankets straight from the dryer because Cooper's body was covered in a cold sweat. There he lied flat on his back crying from pain and brightened significantly when Mindy lifted a shower scrubber and lifted his shirt so she could get at all the horrible itchy spots on his body.

"T-thank you, Mommy thank you thank you thank you" he crawled into her lap and kissed her leg as she continued to itch all over his body for him and let Taylor cover him in the blanket so he could stay warm.

"You are doing so WELL, Bub" Mindy nodded while running her fingers through his hair, "I know it hurts now and it SUCKS, Booboo, but you WILL get through this in a few days all the yucky itchy shit will be gone and you will be okay again, alright babe?"

He coughed and shook his head when she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Be a brave boy for Mommy, you're doing so WELL I am SO proud of you."

She sat there with him and Taylor just stood around awkwardly, giggling to herself at Cooper's room because he was just too cute for words.


	69. Chapter 69

**jadeMK11**: Oh yeah, her and Taylor should get along great. And sadly no…Connor and the kids don't have the best relationship, Mindy needs a break and Cooper himself is way too fucked up on withdrawal still to be feeling a lot of anything. **Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: James can't believe it either and he feels pretty horrible about it. Mindy, despite the fighting of these past few chapters, loves James more than anything and right or wrong, she don't want him to be depressed over this (or anything else really). So it leads to justification of what he did. And Cooper and James seeing each other…that one will be really interesting. **firewing pegasus**: Aww congratulations. James is hoping that the time apart will help Connor and Mindy; time will tell how that works out for him. Cooper's got a bit of a ways to go before he's fully recovered but he's a lot better off now than he would have been if he had stayed out on the streets.

…

James compulsively bit his thumbnail as he walked around the house looking for… well…anyone. So many people were in it yet he couldn't find anyone. Connor was avoiding him. He knew that one for sure. He had been avoiding him ever since the…incident out in the desert and he had been letting Connor do it because he couldn't bear the thought of looking his own child in the eye now after what he had done. It was easy for Mindy to say that what he had done was a part of him being a parent but it was much harder for him to believe it. It didn't feel like he had parented at all. It just felt like he had snapped and struck out at one of the people he loved most. And that was wrong to him, no matter which way he cut it.

He sighed and switched from biting one thumbnail to the other. He could not keep dwelling on the subject. Not if he wanted to keep some resemblance of his sanity. He couldn't even think clearly on the subject. It just fucked him up in all kinds of ways that he couldn't begin to deal with. He couldn't even go to Connor's door and beg for forgiveness, that was how fucked up he felt over it.

The sound of voices caught his attention and at first he blew them off because it was just Kelly and that hooker. As much as he wanted company, he didn't desire theirs. But then he heard Amber and the others and he immediately followed the sound of them, knocking lightly on the door before slipping inside.

"Daddy!" Chelsea happily bolted away from Taylor so she could go straight into James's arms. Resting her on one hip, he held out his free arm and grinned at Tryg. "Wanna climb Tarzan?"

Tryg eagerly nodded and got up, grabbing on to James's large hand and using it to help himself climb up the giant like he was a mountain or something. James waited until he was on his back in the piggyback position before sweeping Thorn, Scarlett and Amber into a hug with just one arm. "What are you guys up to?" he asked, completely ignoring Kelly and Taylor because he was that caught up in the kiddies.

"Nothing much," Thorn answered for all of them. She kissed his cheek and smiled brightly at him. "What are YOU doing Daddy?"

"Well…I was doing some thinking-"

"Uh oh. Duck and cover!" Amber joked.

"Ha ha," James said dryly. He lightly tapped her on the end of her nose and grinned. "Anyway, I was thinking that the six of us could go on a little outing today."

"Really?" Scarlett asked, all the kids jumping right in on that. They really did adore James and were not about to pass up having him to themselves. "Do you mean it Daddy? Do you really really mean it?"

"Of course I mean it," James assured her. "You're my babies. Time with you means more than I could ever explain."

Kelly smiled softly as she and Taylor watched the scene unfold in front of them. Sure James had been totally rude by not even acknowledging their existence but he was so damn adorable with the kids that it was easy to forgive him. People did say a lot of shit about him behind his back but it was so obvious to her now that he was this gigantic sweetheart that she didn't understand how the entire world didn't know it. Yeah he and Mindy were having issues at the moment but she wasn't about to question his love for her or anyone else in the family. That was just too stupid of a move, even for her.

"Where are we going to go Daddy?" Tryg asked, getting off of James's shoulders so he could snuggle up to James's front alongside all of his sisters.

That was a good question. He hadn't actually thought that far ahead yet. "It's a surprise," he informed them. It would be a surprise because he probably wouldn't really figure out where he was taking them until they were actually there. "A super special surprise just for all of you. Now go get your shoes on for me, okay? We're going to go right now."

The four oldest shot off like bats out of hell while Chelsea stayed right at James's side, hugging his neck and waiting for him to help her put on her shoes. "Are you excited Princess?" he asked, getting back up and bouncing her lightly in his arms. "Are you excited about going with Daddy?"

"Yes!" Chelsea shouted, squeezing his neck to the point where it started to become hard to breathe. He didn't give a shit at all though. He just kissed her cheek and started looking around the room. "Are her shoes anywhere in here or-"

"They're here," Taylor confirmed. She snatched up Chelsea's shoes and handed them off to James. "See?"

"Thanks." James sat down in the nearest chair so he could slip her shoes on easier. "Your name is uh…" Shit, he didn't know this.

"Taylor," she said, seemingly miffed that he didn't know her name.

"Right, sorry." He wasn't actually that sorry because he didn't know her or really give a damn about her. He just knew that she was the hooker who had been trying to take care of Cooper when he was running around on the streets. And seeing as how he usually just killed hookers because they were among the people that generally weren't missed by anyone important, it just felt strange to have one in his house playing nanny to the kids. But he wasn't going to complain. If Mindy was giving it the all clear and she wasn't doing anything wrong, he would just go with it. They really did need a nanny and hell, maybe she would work out great after all.

…

"Daddy this place is awesome!" Thorn yelled excitedly. He ended up taking them to the aquarium that was at the Silverton and they were going absolutely nuts over the place. As soon as they had gotten in there they were all running all over the place, putting their faces up to the glass so they could get as close of look of the fishes that they possibly could. Mindy's love for animals had been passed on to them so this was absolutely great to them. They were attracting a fair bit of attention because people did recognize them and some people were trying to take pictures but James stood by all of them protectively, letting everyone know with his eyes that if they even dared to get any closer to his babies he would rip their heads off and punt them across the room.

"Are there sharks here Daddy?" Tryg asked eagerly.

"Yes there are," James confirmed. "I think they're further down the way-"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tryg said impatiently. "Let's go!"

"Hold on Tryggy," Amber ordered. "I want to see ALL the animals, not just the sharks."

"They aren't even looking at us Daddy," Scarlett said. The fishes were just going along their fishy business and not paying any attention to them. "They-oooh! DADDY DADDY LOOK! There's MERMAIDS! Daddy's there's MERMAIDS!"

James looked and grinned. There were a few women dressed up as mermaids swimming around with the fishes. "Wow that's neat," he said as Amber, Thorn and Scarlett all ran up to the mermaids and waved. The mermaids waved right back at them, which caused even more excitement.

"I want to be a mermaid!" Scarlett announced. "I do Daddy, I want to be one!"

"I would be a prettier mermaid than you!" Thorn declared.

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"You look the same!" Amber said in exasperation.

James shook his head as the twins ignored her and kept on arguing. "You BOTH would be beautiful mermaids," he assured them. "Okay?"

"But I would be prettier," Scarlett declared vainly. "And she's just jealous!"

"Oh you know what?" Thorn said, balling up her little fists and glaring at her twin. "You-"

"Hey!" Tryg yelled, jumping up and down and putting an end to the argument before James could intervene. "Penguins! Look look look!" He ran over to the penguin area and they all followed, grinning as they watched the penguins waddle around and jump into the icy cold water. There was an area where they could stand and watch the penguins swim around underwater, which James always though was neat.

"Hey! Hey penguins!" Tryg knocked on the glass in order to try to get their attention. "Dance for us penguins! Dance like this!" He backed up a step and started doing the Happy Feet shuffle, earning roars of laughter from James and his sisters. "Come on…" He looked at his sisters for help. "Come on, help me show them!"

"Okay!" The girls promptly went right to Tryg's side and started doing the Happy Feet shuffle with him. James laughed and then glanced at the penguins, who had absolutely no idea what the kids were trying to get them to do.

"Daddy you too!" Tryg ordered. "You too you too!"

James glanced around and saw that they had quite an audience. Now any other man probably would have gently refused but not him. He didn't give a damn who was watching; his son said to dance so he danced. It was probably the worst Happy Feet Shuffle in the history of mankind but Tryg and the twins cheered him on anyway while Amber and Chelsea just about died laughing at him. When he was done he took a bow, actually getting applause from a few bystanders who admired his courage to publicly make an ass out of himself for his babies.

Next they went to the shark tanks, who got faces made at them by Tryg. Then they saw the jellyfish, which the girls actually liked because of the colors they were. Next were the sea lions, which were Chelsea's favorite. She squealed and clapped her hands together the entire time they watched them. After that they went to the crabs and knowing how much Amber loved hermit crabs, James paid off one of the aquarium people into taking one out and handing it off to Amber so she could run wild with it.

"Thank you Daddy!" she shouted happily, taking off like a rocket and proudly showing off what she now had. Scarlett quickly jumped back and hid behind James's legs while Thorn laughed and Tryg chased after Amber, going along with her as she showed off the animal to random people.

"Daddy can we go see the dolphins next?" Thorn asked eagerly.

"Yeah," Scarlett chimed in. "The dolphins are our favorite." That was hardly surprising, given how similar the twins were to Mindy. They were Trish and Mindy all over again, although neither one was schizo, thank goodness.

"We'll go see them next," James promised.

"Mommy loved dolphins you know," Thorn informed him.

"I know. She loves very very much."

"She wants to have a dolphin!" Scarlett clarified. "She does Daddy, she wants to have a dolphin live in our pool!"

"Really now?" James asked. "Our pool might be a bit small for a dolphin-"

"That just means we have to get a bigger pool!" Thorn said smartly. "That way it has plenty of room to swim around."

James grinned at that. "I guess so." He kissed her and Scarlett on the tops of their heads. "I'll work on that, okay?"

"Okay Daddy."

…

After they left the aquarium they went to M&M's World and stocked up on candy before heading back home. When they arrived at the house, the first person they saw was Taylor and the kids bombarded her at once, telling her all about the time they had had at the aquarium. James also handed Chelsea off to her and went off to search for Mindy because he had bought her a stuffed dolphin at the aquarium gift shop (he had also gotten Elizabeth a stuffed penguin so she wouldn't be left out). "Baby Doll?" he called out. "Lizzie Bear?" He went upstairs and ended up finding them in their room. "There are my girls," he said happily.

"Hi Jamie," Mindy said softly. Just the way she greeted him made him pause. Something was definitely not right. He didn't know what it was but it wasn't right.

"I got you and Lizzie Bear a present," he told her as he sat down on the bed with her. He gave her the dolphin and Elizabeth the penguin.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth said happily, snatching the penguin out of his hands and hugging it with the arm that wasn't holding Lammy.

Mindy smiled weakly as she petted the dolphin's head. "You didn't have to do that Jamie."

"I wanted to though," James said, nuzzling her neck and making the dolphin give her an Eskimo kiss, which made her giggle softly. "I saw him and immediately thought of you Baby Doll. I couldn't not get him for you."

Mindy nodded along and took the animal from him, holding it up to Lizzie so she could see it properly. "Say hello to Guadalupe Lizzie Bear."

"Guadalupe?" James repeated in amusement. Only his wife would think to name a dolphin that.

"Yes," Mindy confirmed. "This is Guadalupe." She giggled a bit when she noticed Elizabeth making Lammy kiss the penguin. "I think you're going to have to name her new friend."

"Hmmm…" James watched Elizabeth and gently ran his fingers through her blonde hair. "Do you want Daddy to name your new friend?"

Elizabeth held up the penguin and nodded.

"What about….Sammy?" It rhymed with Lammy so that had to be easy enough for her to remember and say.

"Sammy!" Elizabeth shouted gleefully. She waited until James gave Sammy a kiss and then stuck Sammy's beak into her mouth so she could start chewing away at it. He chuckled a bit at that but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and that really bothered him.

"Baby Doll what's the matter?" he asked, gently moving some of her hair out of the way so he could try to look into her eyes. She was avoiding eye contact which was really not a good sign.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied. She was so blatantly lying that it pained him to hear it.

"Something is wrong," he insisted, not about to just let the subject slide. "Baby Doll what is it? Come on, you can tell me." No answer. "Please Baby Doll, tell me what's the matter. I can't fix it if you don't tell me."

"Are you going to listen?" Mindy asked, unable to hide all of the snippiness in her voice.

"Of course-"

"You didn't want to listen last night." Mindy sniffled and cuddled Elizabeth as close to her as possible. "I was trying to talk to you but you wouldn't listen. You ignored me."

James groaned internally as he realized what she was talking about. He had had sex with her to avoid having another fight. He just hadn't wanted to fight. Hurting her feelings was the furthest thing from his mind. He would never do that to her intentionally. "Baby Doll-"

"I was like a doll to you," she went on, gently playing with Guadalupe's fin. "I love making love to you Jamie but I felt like one of those blowup dolls we see in those sex shops."

Now James was completely ashamed of himself. What the fuck had he done? In the process of being weak and just avoiding another issue he had made his own wife feel like a sex toy. "Oh fuck Baby Doll, I'm so sorry!" He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, wanting to just kiss the hurt away. "I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you. I just didn't want to fight. I hate fighting with you and I couldn't bear to do it again. I NEVER meant to make you feel like that. I LOVE you Baby Doll. You're fucking everything to me. What I did was wrong Baby Doll and I'm sorry. I'm fucking sorry I should have NEVER done that to you. I shouldn't have avoided the subject like a fucking jackass."

"Jamie-"

"And I know I suck at actual parenting Baby Doll. I know I do. I let Cooper and Connor have free reign because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Belle balanced it out for awhile but then she died and I never really stepped up and tried to discipline them at all. I let them run wild and I shouldn't have Baby Doll. I shouldn't have done it and I fucking suck-"

"No," Mindy interrupted, putting her finger to his lips and shaking her head. "You do not suck Jamie darling, don't talk like that."

"But-" He was cut off by a kiss from her and he happily accepted it.

"You do not suck," she repeated for his own benefit. "You understand me Jamie? You do not suck. You just let Connor walk all over you. Bub did it too sometimes but Connor does it all the time and he plays you like a fiddle without you even saying anything about it. It kills me to see him do it because I love you so much. I know he's always going to need you to take care of him but the way he treats you drives me CRAZY! He knows how to get what he wants you of you. If you try to tell him no he says mean things to you until he gets his way. He knows you don't like him upset with you and he takes advantage of it. And you cannot let him keep doing that Jamie darling. You're better than that."

James rested his forehead against hers and brushed his thumb over the corner of her mouth. "I know he does it on purpose Baby Doll. I don't like to admit it but I know he does and I just let him do it. I can change though Baby Doll. I know I can, if you can help me."

"Of course I'll help you Jamie!" Mindy said without hesitation. "You don't even have to ask. I'll always help you Jamie, no matter what."

He smiled weakly and kissed her gently. "I love you Baby Doll."

"I love you more my darling Jamie."

"I love you times infinity."

"I love you times infinity times infinity."

"Mum mum mum!" Elizabeth babbled, adding her own two cents into the conversation. "Da da da!"

"Aw, do you love us too Lizzie Bear?" Mindy asked with a giggle. "Do you love Mommy and Daddy!"

"Mum mum mum!" Elizabeth repeated, squealing in delight as Mindy blew a raspberry on her tummy.

James grinned, feeling a bit better but not completely. He still felt guilty about how he made Mindy feel and he still needed to make it up to her. He wasn't sure what he was going to do quite yet but he would figure out something. She was his Baby Doll. He had the will when it came to her and he would find a way.

…

"I'm gonna miss you Coopy," Connor said as he petted Cooper on the head like he was a dog. He was back in Cooper's room and was cradling him like a baby. His hair was sticking to his head because of how sweaty he was but Connor hardly cared. He was too busy babbling on and on and making sure Snoopy and Spike stayed seated like good pets. "I'll miss you lots and lots. I wish you could come with me. We could go looking for polar bears together."

"There's no…" Cooper's voice was trailing off because he was shivering so much. "…polar bears…in Canada."

"Sure there is," Connor insisted. "They hide up there with Sandy Claws."

Cooper let out a noise that was either supposed to be a laugh or a grunt. It was hard to tell which. "Fucking crazy." He nestled his head deeper against Connor's stomach. He still wasn't dong well by any means but he didn't realize that he was trying to mask how sucky he was feeling so Connor wouldn't see it.

Connor pouted his lips and shook his head. "One day you're going to see I'm right," he vowed. "You will. You're all going to see and then you won't be laughing." He leaned down and kissed Cooper's forehead. "I don't know how long I'm gonna be gone Coopy," he said with a sigh. "But I'm gonna miss you and I'll call you lots and lots. I don't know if I'm gonna talk to Daddy though. I mean, I'm really mad at him cuz he hitted me but do you think he's gonna hit me again if I don't talk to him?"

"Huh?" Cooper had absolutely no idea what Connor was talking about and was in no condition to really comprehend it.

Connor sighed and shook his head. "Just be careful Coopy, okay? You gotta be careful." He glanced towards the door and then looked at Snoopy and Spike, who both just stared at him. "Daddy don't like you still. You do one wrong thing and he's gonna do bad stuff to you again." He pursed his lips together and wondered if Cooper was even listening to him. "You gotta stop loving Mindy. You keep that up its gonna get you killed. Daddy will take any excuse when it comes to you and her."

Cooper shook his head stubbornly. "Shut up. You don't know…she does love me. She does."

Connor groaned. "Coopy no. Don't let her fool you. You're going to DIE if you cross Daddy again. Don't you understand? You'll die…please don't die Coopy. I NEED you Coopy. I NEED you!" He whimpered and pouted when he saw he wasn't getting through to Cooper. Cooper was still believing what he wanted to believe and if he kept it up, it was going to be the death of him. It was only a matter of time.

…

The ride to the airport was absolutely uncomfortable. James was driving and Connor sat in the back, talking freely to Snoopy and Spike and munching on some chocolate covered peanuts while only speaking to James when absolutely necessary. James was keeping a very tight grip on the steering wheel, trying to ignore the fact that this was bothering him. He figured that was what Connor was after…but then again, maybe that wasn't it completely. He didn't know. Either way though, he wasn't daring to approach the subject if he could avoid it.

"No Snoopy, you can't have chocolate," Connor said with a shake of his head. "It's BAD for you. You could DIE if you eat it." He pouted when Snoopy began to whine. "I'm sorry Snoopy but I don't want to kill you. No I can't let you out of the kennel. "You have to stay in there. I know it sucks but you gotta do it." He patted the top of Snoopy's kennel and then leaned over to check on Spike. "You okay Spike? You okay buddy?"

"Spike is fine," James assured him. "Aren't you Spike?"

Connor didn't even act like he had heard James at all. He just continued to coo and talk to his pets until they reached the airport, which was where Connor blatantly ignored James in favor of rushing into the welcoming arms of Natalya, who picked him up and spun him around quite easily.

"Nattie Nattie Nattie!" Connor shouted gleefully.

"Connor Connor Connor!" Nattie shouted back. "Are you excited about the trip?"

"YEAH!" Connor was obnoxiously loud with that answer. "I am I am!" He turned to David and Tyson, who were both standing nearby. "Get Snoopy and Spike from Daddy please. I want Nattie to take me on the plane now."

James watched David elbow Tyson and motion for him to do it. The coldness he was getting from "Baby Bulldog" threw him off until he remembered that David and Julie were still seeing each other-then that shit became crystal clear.

"I'll take those," Tyson said, taking Snoopy and Spike off of James's hands before making David take Spike, who was much harder to carry around than Snoopy.

James nodded before beckoning Connor over to him. "Connor can you come here please?"

"Uh….no," Connor said. "I don't wanna."

Nattie frowned. "You're not going to say bye?"

Connor rolled his eyes before waving to James. "Bye!" He turned back to Nattie and held out his hand. "There, I did it. Now take me to Canada."

Nattie was clearly still confused by Connor's attitude and James just shook his head before snagging Connor by the arm and forcing a hug on him. Connor yelped and tried to squirm away but James kept him in his grasp easily. "You be good okay? And call me when you get there."

"Are you gonna hit me again if I don't?"

"WHAT?" Nattie asked angrily, clearly hearing that comment and giving James a death glare.

"Uh oh," David and Tyson said at the same time.

James gulped a bit and shook his head. "Nattie it's not what it sounds like-"

"He hitted me because I said stuff he didn't like." Yeah, this was blatant revenge on Connor's part. He wouldn't even deny it if asked about it. It had just popped into his head to do it and why pass it up? "He slapped me right across the face and it hurted a lot." He patted James on the chest. "I love you Daddy. I'll call you if Nattie lets you live." He gave James a peck on the cheek before hopping over to David and jumping on to his back so he could get a piggyback ride. "Onward march infidels! I has Sandy Claws and polar bears to hunt!"


	70. Chapter 70

**Demoniac Bastard Scorpio**: With the mood Nattie just got put in, it's highly doubtful any of the rest of the Harts will get their hands on him because she'll be wanting to give him her own personal ass kicking. **jadeMK11**: That he did. Never ever count Connor out. He's usually pretty good at getting his brand of vengeance. And no, James can't really win at much anything right now-a point that will be shown off even more in the upcoming chapters. **Esha Napoleon**: lol yes he is. And thank you! **cathy**: Yes they are and yep. **NeroAnne**: LOL I know. James knew he was in trouble then. Mission accomplished for Connor.

…

Waiting for Connor to walk out of earshot Natalya turned to James and looked just about ready to tear his head off. Immediately James had to put himself on the defense she came at him so hard.

"Are you kidding?" the very way she said that made him cringe, "You HIT him?"

James fidgeted, "I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't he just-"

"What?" she snapped, "He said something you didn't like so that gives you an excuse to hit him? Does he get that treatment EVERY time he upsets you verbally?"

"No!" his eyes widened and he shook his head, "Not at all, Nattie! Please! You don't understand"

"What's there to understand, James?" she snapped with narrowed eyes, "Nothing can justify what you've done to Connor."

"I didn't MEAN to hurt him, Nattie, it just"

"Did you apologize?" her eyebrow rose and she just impatiently waited for him to answer, and he nodded.

"Of course I did!" he nodded immediately, "I still can't forgive myself for it, Nattie I've tried I really have, but he's just been so difficult"

"And you know he'll never understand why you're angry at him, James!"

"It's a handicap, not an excuse" he paused at that, actually stunned at his own words because they literally could have spilled from Mindy's mouth down to the last syllable.

Clearly Natalya was stunned to hear that as well, staring at James in what he could have sworn was horror before shaking her head slowly.

"Who ARE you?" with a disgusted shake of the head Natalya turned her back and extended an arm towards Connor quickly, "Come on, Connor."

"Bye-bye abusive Daddy!" Connor called uncaringly without even turning his back as he and a severely disappointed Natalya headed in the opposite direction.

…

Somberly pulling into the garage more than depressed at being yelled at by Natalya, James groaned before parking the car and shaking his head at letting Connor go by himself to Canada. He was still worried even if he knew the Hart's like the back of his hand. Mindy would sure as hell be happy that Connor wasn't around, and maybe things could get back on track between the two of them minus the distraction. Clearly she wasn't happy with him or Connor being around and he wanted her to be happy. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to be upset with him, and if he had to sacrifice a little bit to obtain that then so be it. No matter what happened in life or where the babies grew up and moved to he'd always have Baby Doll. They had to stick together through the bullshit and work their issues out because they were stuck with each other.

The fraction of a second James put the car in park, the garage door was thrown open and like a bat out of hell Mindy sprinted right into James's car with a pink crazy straw sticking out of her mouth and jumped through the open window right onto him.

"JAMIE!"

"BABY DOLL?" his lips slammed to hers and though he was more than glad to see her, the Superman leap through the window wasn't something he could say he was readily expecting.

"HI Jamie!" kissing him frantically and petting his beautiful beige skin with intense pressure Mindy checked the backseat and seemed more than relieved to find no Connor, "I MISSED you, Jamie I did I did!"

"I missed you too, Baby Doll" he nodded while moving his lips from her mouth to her throat because he couldn't help himself, "I missed you so fucking much"

"Mmmm" biting his lower lip she sucked on it before straddling his waist and weaving her fingers into his hair, gliding her tongue down his throat and smiling under her breath, "Did you eat anything special, Jamie?"

"Why?" he grunted while holding her hips onto his crotch as she ground into it and worked frantically on unbuttoning his jeans.

"Because" giggling she licked the inside of his mouth and smiled, "you taste so NICE, Jamie!"

"I think its because you missed me"

"Nope" shaking her head and freeing his cock from its confines she gasped the moment he entered her tight wetness and thrust quickly, earning himself kisses all down the throat and eventually the hickeys came before finally releasing and panting into the other's mouth longer than they'd originally intended.

"I love you" kissing her temple he nodded and traced a heart on her sweat-coated chest, "Don't go anywhere without me."

"Why would I EVER go anywhere without you, James?" shaking her head they kissed and she started jabbing him in the nose with her crazy straw, "Or I will use THIS bad boy next time I fuck the shit out of you instead of the dildo."

Staring at the crazy straw James frowned before biting her nose and held her close, "I think that'd be quite interesting"

"Oh, hush up!" she waved him off before giving him a big kiss on the lips and kicking open the car door, "Now come, come! It is time to mix drinks!"

"Mix drinks?" he smiled as she pulled him out of the car and stuck the keys down her cleavage before heading into the house with one of his long arms wrapped around her waist.

"Daddy!" Chelsea was already leaping for James the moment they walked in the doorway, Mindy absolutely beaming and leaning down to rub noses with her before James scooped her up and kissed her cheek.

"How is my Princess?" he smiled fondly while giving her an Eskimo kiss but Tryg was already tugging his pant legs.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy what TOOK you so long?" he whined with a heavy stamp of his foot and James frowned before bending to pick him up as well.

"I'm sorry…" he and Mindy exchanged glances before drumming something fast, "Mommy jumped through the car window"

"They were having sex" Amber shrugged from the kitchen counter with Kelly, and the young blonde's jaw dropped at Amber's audacity before worriedly looking to both parents.

"I SWEAR I did not teach them that!"

"Oh I believe you" Mindy's eyes got big and she nodded, "TRUST me."

"So what are you making with Daddy?" Scarlett asked while sitting on the couch with Fievel in her lap as Mindy's old black cat's biological clock ticked away on the poor bastard. Chelsea was actually the old stray-turned-prince's biggest fan, but all the girls generally liked him since he was Mommy's oldest friend.

"Hmm…" pouting her lips as Taylor came in holding Elizabeth, Lammy, and Sammy, Mindy pulled Thorn into a backwards hug, "well I was hopin' Daddy would make mixed drinks with Mommy for all the big folk and virgin one's for you little mushrooms"

"Little mushrooms…?" Amber's eyebrow quirked as Taylor giggled into her hand and bounced a restless Elizabeth while Mindy seemed miffed.

"Yeah…what's wrong with it?" Mindy shrugged when Amber just shook her head knowingly.

"Nothing…" Amber shrugged before snickering, "that's a new nickname, Mommy."

"No, it is not" Mindy dismissed with a eccentric wave of the hand and James smirked before pulling Amber into a backwards hug until she screamed in surprise.

"It's PUMPKIN to me!" his lips pressed to Amber's cheek and she giggled loudly when Mindy yawned and tapped the counter loudly until James's attention was snared, "What is it, Baby Doll?"

"Put the Lizzie Bear in the chair" Mindy pointed to the high chair and right away Taylor nodded meekly, trying not to make eye contact since he was right next to Mindy. Despite the complete sweetheart he was around his wife and kids, she was nervous. He didn't know her; he didn't know anything about her and probably didn't trust her for shit considering she was a prostitute, though that would be pretty shallow of him for being the owner of a porn enterprise.

Upon spotting Elizabeth, James's face lit up and immediately he approached his baby to give her a big kiss and press their foreheads.

"Hi, Lizzie Bear" he grinned as she squealed and grabbed his face so they could kiss, "I love you…!" he cooed happily with the biggest grin across his face, "I love you, Lizzie Bear! I love you!"

"Da-da-da!" she cheered as his fingers skimmed through her hair and they kissed again.

"Hey!" quickly slapping James's ass and grabbing onto it Mindy practically jumped onto his back like a pest and crawled until she could bite the back of his neck and he chuckled, "Make with the blender, kiss the baby later!"

Smiling wryly, James stood erect and flipped Mindy over the top of his head before reeling her around the waist, "Any other requests, your majesty?"

"Yes" nodding her fingers ran through his hair and they kissed, "I love you."

"I love you most" his finger tapped her nose as their lips pressed once more before turning their attention to the display of different alcoholic beverages all across the counter and mix containers. Kelly and Mindy stood together grinning innocently next to the other while Taylor tried to look small, but Mindy yanked her right over by the back of her jeans and hugged the lanky blonde under an arm. "What?" James asked Mindy more than anyone, "What is this?"

"Bartend!" Mindy cheered and jumped right up on the counter for him to go, "Bartend, bartend, bartend!"

"Excuse me, Miss…" he smirked and pulled Mindy's hair back by the scalp, "but if I didn't know any better, I'd assume you were trying to get me plastered"

"And it is all so much FUN!" Mindy grinned cheekily while rubbing noses with him, running a hand down the front of his chest and poking her tongue between her teeth.

"I will gladly get myself smashed if you smile"

"So get on it!" smacking his ass yet again, Mindy pushed him forwards and happily drummed her fingers on the counter as James made himself bartender and made up a bunch of basically everything he knew Mindy liked and forcing everyone to deal with it. Mindy absolutely loved mixed drinks so he had a list the length of his arm from the past times they'd been drunk together, and nobody ever wanted to be around them while they were drunk. Taylor was going to find that out the hard way.

..

"Hey, Bubblelicious" Mindy sighed upon entering Cooper's bedroom with a glass of what literally was called a Zombie, "Lookie what I brought you."

Cooper lay sprawled out skinny and practically out of breath from the itching, so Mindy kindly sat on the bed next to him before she got plastered in a few minutes and offered him the drink.

"They say hard alcohol knocks shit out of you" she nodded wisely while leaning down to kiss his hair, "It nulls pain, you might like it."

Sniffling and staring into his sheets, Cooper tried in vain to get himself up but stared at her helplessly.

"Awwww booboo" frowning Mindy ran a hand through his hair and kissed his forehead, "You want me to help you sit up?"

Wordlessly he nodded, so Mindy breathed deeply through her nose and placed the drink down on a nightstand before hooking her arms under Cooper's to pull him up, and the moment she bent to straighten him out he leaned forwards and they kissed lightly. Cooper smelled so horribly she wanted to get him in the shower somehow, yet frighteningly didn't know if she could control herself with him in a bathtub. As it was she couldn't stop hooking up with him while he was dirty, once she cleaned him up and got him off this shit? God only knew what would happen.

"I love you, Momma" he breathed shallowly and shivered once he sat up so she covered him in one of his comforters and rubbed his freezing arms.

"I love you more, Bub"

"No" he shook his head and eagerly took the alcoholic beverage she offered him. It was all fruity and shit but it seemed like it'd do him some wonders.

"YES" leaning over she kissed his cheek and nestled under his chin, "Connor left today."

"Why again?" he was so out of it Mindy had to explain it all in a nutshell again.

"He does not like me at all and I cannot take it any longer before I really hurt someone so I told Daddy I could not live with him any longer"

"And how did he take that?"

"Well…" she shrugged, "no Connor."

"SO he caved…?"

"Mhm" she nodded and kissed his cheek, "I cannot tell you how long because I do not know, but Daddy and me need the break"

Cooper looked sicker at that comment and almost spit his drink out.

"You're still together?" he frowned and she nodded with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"I thought…" motioning between him and herself she caught on moments later and leaned down so they could kiss harder and caress the other's face.

…

"So you need me to drive you back there t' pick ant shit of value up?" Mindy frowned while sitting in James's lap and stirring her Hurricane James had made her. He was busy both drinking at Mindy's request and cuddling with Elizabeth, completely oblivious to Mindy's conversation with Taylor.

"Um…" her fingertips nervously curled around the glass and she swallowed hard, "not really, I guess…"

"You said your pimp owns your apartment?" drunk Mindy was twice less conscious of what she was saying than sober Mindy.

"Yeah…" she nodded meekly in response, "so…"

"Do not worry" leaning over Mindy kindly ran her fingers through Taylor's hair and handed her a business cared which read 'Sorrell Trope, Attorney at Law'. The teenager's brow furrowed at that and went to question when Mindy was already all over James again, sucking face and now swinging her legs around so she straddled his lap and ground into him. They were just a tad bit obnoxious, but meh, that was their way. If she had a James she'd be that way too, anybody would the guy was an Adonis.

…

Unceremoniously James kicked open his bedroom door and entered carrying both Mindy and Elizabeth, too plastered to even close the door when Mindy threw him down to the bed and placed Elizabeth in her crib. At first the baby was annoyed at being put down, but once Mindy crawled on top of James and began kissing down his abs and pulling his shirt up Elizabeth rolled over and hugged both Lammy and Sammy, going right to bed.

"Mmmm Jamie…" grinning wickedly Mindy began pulling his jeans off and kissing up his legs before hovering her mouth over his boxers where his cock was straining against the fabric, "What do we have HERE?"

"Baby Doll…" with a happy sigh he gripped her hair and panted in agony as her tongue pressed against the fabric of his boxers and right over his cock, "Oh fuck Baby Doll…" his spine arched towards her mouth his cock was so hard but she didn't care. Her tongue happily dabbed along the outline of his cock before reaching a hand in to stroke his balls, "Oh fuck, oh fuck Baby Doll fuck…."

"I love you, Jamie…" she giggled while pulling his boxers down teasingly slow, "let's see how much you love me…" his cock was so hard it was just begging for contact, and she gave him contact alright. After making him hiss by sliding her fingers over the tip and licking it, Mindy happily ran her tongue along his cock and let it become painfully hard while looking at him.

"Oh Baby Doll…" reaching for her hair he groaned happy, "fucking amazing, Baby Doll…"

"Not as amazing as you" she giggled and opened her legs for him so he could let his fingers shoot straight up into her wet heat and smiled while riding them in front him.

"Oh fuck me I fucking want you, Baby Doll" he begged while watching his fingers inside of her and he frowned, "I love you too much, I do"

"Then will you let me adopt Taylor?" she asked in passing and he completely was out of it between sexually frustrated and piss drunk, so he nodded and tried to get her mouth to take his cock any way he could.

"Anything you want, Baby Doll" he nodded when she smiled and took his cock in her mouth, sucking as hard as she could and assisting with her tongue on the inside to make him cum twice as hard down her throat.

…

Sitting next to Taylor next to Mindy's lawyer Sorrell Trope the next day, Taylor stared at the papers in front of her with completely bleary eyes while Mindy was practically passive. She just wanted to sign and get it the hell over it.

"Did James really say yes to this?" Taylor just continued to stare in utter shock as Mindy indifferently waited to sign and shrugged.

"Mhm."

"How?"

"Do not worry about that" she waved her off, not wanting to get into the mechanics of drunk James and blowjobs to get what she wanted. She wasn't sure if sober James knew this was happening but meh, at least she did bring it up to him so he couldn't get TOO mad when he found out.

"I can't believe this…" her eyes were wide and she shook her head with a sniffle, "this is amazing, Mindy I can't believe you're"

"Hush child" Mindy waved her off while her lawyer tapped her arm to read over a bunch of crap with her regarding the adoption, and Taylor's eyes just couldn't prevent the tears from coming.

The moment they left that building Taylor threw herself into tiny Mindy and cried for almost half an hour to the point that Mindy had to take her out to lunch too.


	71. Chapter 71

**Demoniac Bastard Scorpio**: Things are definitely going to be getting interesting for this family. We've got a bit of a ways to go in this lovely story and in our next story a whole new kind of hell is unleashed on them. Nobody said it was ever easy being a Lawson. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Yes she did and she'll be good for them to have around because she can help with the kids. And knowing them? I wouldn't put it past them. At all. **cathy**: Yes it is. **NeroAnne**: lol Thank you : )

…

James tapped his foot impatiently, every second feeling like a minute and every minute feeling like an hour because Mindy was not there already. They were supposed to be meeting for lunch, even though he hadn't wanted her to go anywhere without him in the first place. Every time they were apart it drove him insane. A minute was bad enough but this long? No. He did not like it. He did not like it one bit. He grabbed the straw that was in his drink and began to twirl it it around, barely aware that his antsy actions were causing quite a few stares. He was not only Mr. Mindy Stratus but he was a rather large and intimidating guy. What in the world could possibly be making him that antsy?

Everyone who was looking got their answer about two minutes later. "Baby Doll!" James said excitedly, noticing that Taylor was also with her and making a note that he would have to get Mindy away from the younger girl so bathroom sex could be had again.

"JAMIE!" Mindy propelled herself all the way across the room and launched herself directly into James's waiting lap. If she weren't so tiny and he didn't have so much body weight to hold himself in place, they both would have went flying back over the chair. "Jamie Jamie Jamie!"

"You took too long Baby Doll," he complained as they planted kisses all over each other's faces. "You took too long, where were you?"

"I'm sorry Jamie," she apologized, kissing him even more frantically than before. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to be away. If I hadn't had to do that thing, I would not have gone away at all because being away from you makes me cry Jamie. It really does."

James shook his head and petted her hair, not liking the thought of her crying at all. "What are you talking about Baby Doll?" he asked, kissing away the tears that weren't actually there right at that moment. "What thing did you have to do?"

"Don't you remember what we talked about last night?" Mindy asked as Taylor sat down across from them, seemingly unfazed by the sight of them all over each other.

He slowly shook his head. He really had no idea what the hell she was talking about. He remembered getting really drunk and then he remembered her warm, wet mouth around his cock…any kind of conversation though was not popping into his mind. It had been lost and forgotten due to all the alcohol in his brain.

Mindy stuck her tongue between her teeth and giggled loudly at him. "Aw, Jamie, you're so silly." She smoothed down his hair even though it wasn't messed up. "I asked you last night if I could adopt Taylor and you said yes, so that's what I did."

James seriously thought he misheard her until he looked back and forth between her and Taylor and realized that she wasn't kidding at all. She really had gone out and adopted a seventeen year old girl that he really didn't even know. He knew she had been a hooker, he knew she had taken on the task of trying to take care of Cooper when he was spiraling out of control and as far as he could tell, and she seemed to be okay overall…still, it was a bit startling to hear that she was suddenly a part of the family.

"You're not mad are you?" Taylor asked nervously.

"Nah, Jamie's not mad," Mindy said matter of factly. She petted his hair and gave him an Eskimo Kiss. "You said it was okay Jamie. You did. I was a good girl that got your permission before I went out and did it. You just don't remember it right because your drinks made your brain fuzzy."

He nodded along, accepting what she said and giving her a gentle kiss. It was becoming evidently clear that she had gotten him drunk on purpose and weasled permission out of him but he really couldn't give a damn. So what if she had done that? He had enjoyed himself and it wasn't like this was a bad thing really. The girl was way too young to be running around whoring herself out on the street. No, she would be better off living with them if that was what Mindy desired. Besides, that officially meant they had another helping hand when it came to the babies and that was really really needed. Kelly could only stay so much longer; they needed someone around that was going to be a hell of a lot more permanent.

Mindy giggled and kissed him back. "I love the way you taste Jamie," she told him. "You taste so yummy."

"You taste yummier," he insisted, his fingers drifting up her thighs and his eyes going down to what he knew was waiting for him between her legs. He could feel his cock hardening at the very thought of tasting her. Fuck how he needed to do it. His mouth was just salivating at the thought of it.

"Nuh uh!" she claimed, poking his nose lightly. "You taste much better than I do Jamie."

"I beg to differ," he protested as he nipped lightly at her fingertip.

"Maybe you two should have a taste test to settle the matter," Taylor said matter of factly. It was obvious they could go back and forth about this all night so why not encourage them to actually figure out a way to solve the issue? That seemed much more productive and she could eat without having to watch them put on a show in front of her…well, she hoped she got to do that anyway.

"You know, I'm liking the sound of that," James said with a nod. He took a quick glance around before scooping Mindy into his arms in a wedding carry and darting off into the empty restroom. He barely got the door liked behind them when she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and attacked his face with kisses. He kissed her back just as eagerly, carrying her over to the sink and setting her down on the edge of it. "Hang on tight Baby Doll," he ordered.

"Jamie-" He cut her off with a kiss before getting down on his knees and sticking his head underneath her skirt, kissing his way up her thighs before sliding her panties out of the way and lapping away at the warm wetness that had become his all time favorite addiction.

"Jamie!" she moaned, grabbing on to the back of his head to keep him in place and wrapping her legs around him to help keep herself from falling back and smacking the back of her head against the mirror. "Oh fuck Jamie!"

James smirked to himself as he continued to lap away at her, not even bothering to tell her to quiet her moans. Let everyone else hear her. That was fine with him. It let the world know she was his Baby Doll, not theirs. She would never be theirs. She would only be his and nobody else could ever hope to have her.

"Oh Jamie I love your mouth," Mindy gasped, moaning loudly as he nibbled at her clit. "Fuck I'm so wet for you. I'm so wet for you Jamie."

He was well aware of that. His face was drenched with her wetness. He nipped at her clit one last time before fucking her with his tongue as hard and fast as he could, grabbing a hold of her so he could keep her from inadvertently breaking his nose when she started to hump his face as hard as possible.

"James!" she screamed as her orgasm ripped through her, easily outdoing the angry voices of the people who were running this place and who were not happy that they were doing these kinds of shenanigans in their bathroom.

He continued licking her until she was clean and then he withdrew his head from between her legs and kissed her so she could taste herself on his lips. "See? You taste much better."

"Nope," she said stubbornly. "You taste better Jamie darling."

"Oh yeah?"

"Uh huh. And the sooner you get that, the better off you'll be."

He chuckled at that and kissed her endearingly. She was a stubborn, bossy little thing but he loved all that. "Maybe we should do more taste tests to prove that theory."

She grinned and poked his chest lightly. "I was already planning on that my darling Jamie. I know how stubborn you are and need things like that taught to you real good."

"Damn straight."

…

Cooper continued to itch and shiver relentlessly, hating how utterly alone he felt inside of this room. Mindy wasn't there to keep him company and she was the one he desperately wanted. Connor's warning to him before he had left for Canada had done absolutely nothing. What did Connor know anyway? He didn't understand these kinds of things. He loved Mindy and she loved him back. That's why he couldn't stand her not being there with him. He fucking needed her and every second she was not by his side was absolute torture.

He chewed on his lower lip compulsively, sucking up the blood he drew. He couldn't just stay there anymore. Just staying there was driving him insane. Mustering up what little strength he had, he forced himself to get up to his feet and tried to go for the door. He collapsed before he made it there and he whimpered in pain as he hit the ground. Fuck that had hurt. He laid there for a few minutes, waiting until the dizziness in his head passed before forcing himself up to his hands and knees and crawled the rest of the way to the door. He managed to grab on to the doorknob and open the door but then he had to stop again to itch and shiver and gag. He came close to throwing up but he somehow controlled himself, only spitting a bit before dragging himself down the hallway. "Mom?" he called out, desperately looking around for any sign of Mindy. "Momma?

One of the doors opened and out came Amber, who shook her head at him. "She's not here," she informed him. "She's out with Taylor and Daddy." She wrinkled her nose as he deflated in disappointment. "You stink. You need to shower."

"When she's coming back?" he asked, completely ignoring that jab. He was sweating all of this shit out of his system, of course he stunk. That wasn't his concern at the moment.

Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. "I don't know and I wouldn't tell you if I did."

"Amber please-" He tried to grab her but she quickly took a step back, making sure she stayed out of his reach.

"Mommy belongs with Daddy. He's not going to let you hurt her again." She perked up a bit when she heard the front door open and without another word. She just left Cooper there, just laying there in hopes that Mindy would come up to find him like that.

Luck was not on his side though. He could hear the kids bombarding Mindy all at once and the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs that were way WAY too heavy to belong to the tiny rockstar. "Oh no," he whimpered. He began trying to scoot back, cursing himself for how sick and weak he was. "Oh no…"

"There he is Daddy," Amber said, hugging James's neck while nodding at Cooper. She had just totally ratted him out and she looked damn pleased about it. "He was looking for Mommy."

"Was he now?" James said, eyeing Cooper in a way that chilled the younger man to the bone.

Amber nodded. "He was. I didn't want to tell her though because I do not like it when she goes into his room to take care of him. I don't want him to hurt her again."

"Believe me, I don't want that either," James said, kissing the side of Amber's head and giving Cooper an absolutely withering look.

"He stinks though Daddy. He's all sweaty and stinky. He needs a bath."

"I think I should spray him off with the hose in the backyard," James said with a nod.

Amber giggled but then stopped. "I don't think Mommy would like that. She still loves him you know."

"I know. How much do you want to be he's twisting that to suit his own desires?"

Cooper scowled, hating the way they were talking about him like he wasn't even there. He didn't say anything in his own defense though. He was too scared. James just towered over him and with no Mindy right there to stop him, things could get horribly ugly in a heartbeat.

James shook his head and glanced towards the staircase before looking back to Amber. "Go get him some clean clothes and set them outside the bathroom. Then go down and try to keep Mommy distracted while I throw him in the shower."

"Won't she get mad that you're doing this without telling her?"

"Maybe…but I ain't letting her bathe him. I don't care how much she wants to take care of him. That shit ain't going down."

Amber nodded and waited until James set her down before running off to Cooper's room to do what she had been instructed to. Cooper tried to open his mouth to call out for Mindy but James had him by the throat in an instant, roughly dragging him to the bathroom and locking the door behind him. "Fuck!" he cried out as he was thrashed to the ground violently.

"Please don't act like that's the worst I've ever done to you," James said coldly. "Or I'll be tempted to give you a reminder of the shit I can do to you."

Cooper gulped at that. He didn't need a reminder about that. He remembered all that shit way too well.

James smirked, knowing that he had Cooper good and afraid of him. "You're only here because she wants to see you get well," he said, stepping over Cooper so he could turn on the shower as hot as he possibly could. "And while I don't agree with it, its what she wants so I'm allowing it to happen." His gaze hardened as grabbed on to Cooper's hair and yanked him up by the roots. "But let me make something very very clear to you." He grabbed on to Cooper's chin with his other hand when he noticed that the weaker man was trying to look away. "While I give her whatever her heart desires, if you think for one second that gives you the all clear to try any fucking funny shit with her, think again. Because the fucking INSTANT I catch you even LOOKING at her in a way that I don't approve of, you're fucking finished. I will fucking finally finished what I started." He let go of Cooper's hair and let him drop down to the ground with a thud. "Now get undressed. You've got five minutes."


	72. Chapter 72

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Yes it was. Cooper's never been good at knowing a lost cause when he sees it. And Mindy's behavior is really not helping anything. **cathy**: Thank you!

…

Hearing the shower turn on upstairs but counting six kiddie heads, Mindy off banging away on the piano, and James coming down the stairs, Taylor pouted her lips and stared at him oddly since beyond Cooper he was the only person upstairs. Though she didn't want to seem rude, while handing Tryg a fork to eat his waffle she made him with Taylor just had to ask.

"M-Mr. Lawson…?" though Mindy had insisted she call him something more personal because she was officially part of the family, Taylor couldn't help herself but use titles.

She didn't know this guy, she didn't know anything about him outside what she had previously read and clearly he wasn't interested in her at all. He never talked to her, hardly looked her way, and clearly didn't want her in the house outside of Mindy keeping her as a pet. It did bother her, but considering who the ruler of the roost really was she tried not to let it get to her. Whatever Mindy said was the law and nobody was getting around her. She had too much authority and carried a big figurative stick so none crossed her…not even James it seemed.

Disgruntled, he looked her way plainly and asked, "What?"

Though she had something else in mind to say, his face made her eyes drop immediately and she swallowed hard, "Y-you left the water running upst-"

"No I didn't" he shook his head and checked to make sure the kids were all eating breakfast when Mindy came in and scooped Elizabeth out of her high chair before kissing her cheek and frowning at the water running upstairs.

"Who's in the shower?" she plainly asked James, and he actually looked at her before responding.

"The crack addict"

"Why?"

"Because he reeked and I didn't want my house smelling like him"

"Oh…" her lips pouted and she nodded along, "Why don't you let me do it? You hate him anyway and it's my fault"

"I will" he said sterner before frowning and running his fingers through her hair, "He's a boy."

"So?" she shrugged and kissed him, "WE shower together and you are a boy"

"For different reasons" he shook his head before checking the time and kissing her forehead, which Mindy really didn't seem to pay any mind to before shaking her head and leaving the room with Elizabeth, Amber immediately getting up to follow her mother out of the room and take her hand. James then went back upstairs and everything was right back to awkward.

…

"Let's go, you" literally throwing Cooper into the bathtub, James lifted the showerhead and made a hose out of it before literally hosing him down like a dog before taking an actual scrubbing brush and using it roughly against Cooper's skin. He didn't care if he was irritating flesh, he didn't care if he made him bleed…he just wanted to get the stench out.

Cooper whimpered in pain but James couldn't care less, he only scrubbed harder to the point that it hurt him even more and then pulled him out of the tub by his hair and onto the floor and leaving the room.

"Move and I'll kill you before you know what hit you" James warned sharply while leaving the bathroom and coming back minutes later with literally any outfit he could find in Cooper's drawers and threw them at him, "get dressed."

Closing the door, James stood outside it and tapped his foot impatiently as Cooper sniffled in the bathroom and painfully pulled the dry clothes over his damp skin, too pained to even function as he did so. He wished it was Mindy in there and not James, who just threw him around like a sack of potatoes and expected him to find his own way. How could he make James understand he was in too much pain to even speak? He didn't know what he was going to have to do to make him understand, though he didn't even want James in the room in the first place.

…

"You're not yourself" Amber shook her head atop Cotton bareback while Mindy sat with Elizabeth in her arms on the volatile Ace of Spades, who didn't wear as much as a saddle, bridle, or halter to control him.

The amount of faith Mindy placed in the animals was disgusting, but if asked about her logic she would reply they were the only creatures never to turn on her and deserved to their freedom of choice in return. Spade listened to her calf signals and little small clicks of her tongue, as Cotton did with Amber since this was Mindy's version of a riding lesson.

They were out together on a trail of some kind, mainly just wandering through the desert on horseback and Elizabeth wasn't really complaining. Mindy had a big white bucket hat atop her head with a pink sunflower, oversized white-framed sunglasses which actually belonged to Mindy, a bottle in her hand, Lammy in the other, and a pink jumper. Amber had to take a picture and forward it to James it was so precious, but that was essentially how Mindy dressed them all. Amber though, wore a hot pink Juicy Couture tracksuit with a white tank top underneath to match her mother, who also owned an outfit in every color and wore them practically every day.

"What do you mean?" raising an eyebrow, Mindy pet Spade and ran her fingers through his long thick mane when Amber guided little Cotton closer to him and shrugged.

"I don't know…" she shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck, "You act like when Daddy was still alive…"

"How so?" the collagen-fused lips pouted waiting for Amber's response, and the child swallowed hard before shrugging yet again.

"James isn't mean to you, is he?"

"No…" her voice trailed off before she shrugged, "not anymore so much."

"You don't think that was Caroline…" her voice dropped skeptically as if she'd been right all along and Mindy nodded, "when did Miranda die?"

"Cut our throat" Mindy croaked before nodding, showing Amber the very visible sear right across her throat which came from an old wire hanger, "Glen saved Mindy, Miranda died."

"I'm glad Daddy saved Mindy" Amber nodded before reaching up and taking her mother's hand, "Miranda let him kill her"

"Yes she did" Mindy nodded stiffly, "She sat by and watched everything and it was too much. She let James make us a 'thing' and left us and did not care we were pregnant when she told him, and after we had sex with a million gross people to get him off for murder he leaves us for Mark…and only comes back because Mark did not want him…so he hitted us and beat the shit out of us and raped us and made her wish she died…and then he killed her."

"I knew he did" Amber nodded while skimming her fingers along the ends of her mother's hip-length mess of hair, "Nobody understood me when I said he did."

"We know…" Mindy sighed while wrapping an arm tighter around Elizabeth, "Glen knew too."

"Of course Dad knew" Amber shook her head with narrowed eyes, "He knows everything."

"We hate HIM too" she warned her daughter sharply before shaking her head and rolling her eyes, "Take my word, Ambieloo…"

"Guys suck" Amber finished the sentence and watched her mother nod happily while patting the top of her head.

"Best advice I can ever give you" she sighed before squinting in the desert sun and looking up to create a trail, "You let a man control you, you end up like her" by 'her' she meant Miranda.

"Will she ever come back?" the blonde child tossed her lengthy wavy blonde hair to the dry desert wind and frowned, watching Mindy shake her head and snort at that.

"She is dead. She cannot come back. He cut her throat she deserved it"

"No she didn't" immediately Amber went to justify when Mindy held up a hand because she didn't want to hear it.

"She let him cut our throat. She would have let him take us away from you because she loved him more than all of you, but I would not ever let that shit fly"

"No you wouldn't" she responded proudly when Mindy raised her eyebrows and continued, "I know you wouldn't."

"I hadda fight her in that god damn hospital you have NO idea" she kissed the top of Elizabeth's head and frowned, "She woulda left all of you to fucking him and god only knew what he would have done to you all"

"You don't think he would have raised us…?" Amber's face fell and Mindy shook her head immediately.

"If you were not mine?" she snorted, "You would be in the dirt or out in the dirt."

"Not Lizzie Bear"

"Lizzie Bear" Mindy snorted and shook her head while glaring off to the side, "You wanna know about 'Lizzie Bear'?" laughing bitterly she welled up and shook her head, "James did not want her to begin with. We wanted her. After we made her and we were pregnant, James decides to toy with us and make us a side person to Mark…then he does not even care when we try to tell him it is time to leave Mark because we were pregnant. He leaves us a million times and makes us want to die when we nearly break our body and lose our life to give birth to baby. We almost DIED, Amber Rose! We can NEVER have another baby again we gave everything to the Lizzie Bear…" she frowned and shook her head with quivering lips, "And what does he do? He sticks his dick in and he is done. That is how boys work, Amber Rose. They live with their heads in their ass and think they can be mean to us girls when we do fucking everything. I cook, I clean because James refuses to hire a maid despite how much I beg him, I make sure all your schoolwork is done, I teach you things he would never bother to, I take you shopping, and what does he do?" she shrugged with a hint of venom, "It is not like he supports us because my fingernail is worth more than his entire stock, and he lets that Connor run around like a chicken without a head when he KNOWS Connor fucking hates us including his 'real' half-sister even though I know Lawson's like to keep it in the family."

"He did send Connor away" Amber pointed out with raised eyebrows when Mindy waved it off immediately.

"For what? A week? Big fucking shit I can send you all to summer camp and it would last longer. You'd probably get more out of it than where he's going."

"That I knew" she admitted with a deep breath through her nose, "Daddy just keeps avoiding the issue-"

"He's stonewalling" Mindy nodded with a sour look, "And I think it is disgusting of him to do so. Ignoring a problem will not make it go away he has to fucking solve it himself he is a fucking man. I do not care he is his 'special baby' at twenty-fucking-three years old you ALL are my special babies and you ARE babies and he DOES have a baby that he just does not give a damn about because she is not Connor. My baby could DIE and he would not react the way he would for precious Connor because he came from the one and only Annabelle who would put us on a fucking stake to see her one more time." Realizing how she sounded, Mindy paused and curled her lips, "You see why she cannot come back?" by 'she' she meant Miranda, "She comes back he will fucking walk all the fuck over us and treat us like a fucking sex toy and I cannot fucking allow it anymore. I will fucking smack him" her voice cracked every two seconds as she warned right down in Amber's face, "and I will fucking kill him. If he even THINKS about putting a hand on any of you he will draw back a fucking stump. We are done. She loves him…" 'she' was Miranda, "but I don't give a fuck."

…

While standing in front of a particular terrarium with Chelsea in one of his arms, James smiled and kissed her cheek at the zoo when a tiny little red panda crawled out of its home and began to move up a tree branch. Chelsea's face lit up like a kid at Christmas and turned to smile at James while Mindy rolled her eyes at him pretending to be excited while walking with Amber and the twins. Taylor was controlling the maniac that was Tryg while Elizabeth was hugging Mindy's neck like a baby monkey with Lammy hanging between her teeth.

"Stickers" Chelsea pointed at the red panda cub and slapped the glass while nodding at James, "Stickers!"

"Stickers?" at first James frowned, but then saw the little raccoon-like baby wandering around and he grinned, "Ohhhh…Stickers…" nuzzling her face he smirked, "You want him?"

"I want a red" she wagged her finger at Stickers and nodded, "PANDA! Stickers panda!"

"Stickers panda…" he pouted his lips and nodded while kissing her cheek, "hold that thought."

They came home with Stickers that night and there wasn't a thing anyone at the zoo could do about it.


	73. Chapter 73

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **cathy**: LOL yes he did. And you would have to take that up with him. **jadeMK11**: Yes Mark's alive. He's off in Texas with Michelle. With the Miranda/Mindy concept, it's understandable to get confused. What it comes down to, Miranda is the one that her parents essentially killed when she was a child with their abuse and Mindy is the personality that protects them and all that. She's the one most people know and the one the world gives half a damn about. James reached through to Miranda in Savior and things went from there but now "Mindy" has really taken control and is pretty anti-James right now. Gotta just love multiple personality disorder *shakes head* Did that clear anything up at all? If not I can always pull in Vermi to do her own explanation. She is the Mindy master after all. **NeroAnne**: Yeah I know. James just can't get past it and isn't actually looking to. He's extremely biased when it comes to Mindy so anyone that would dare to do anything to her is so far up the shit creek with him there's really no coming back from it.

…

"Stickers! I love Stickers!" Chelsea hugged her new pet as she trotted around the living room with him. She just did not want to put that thing down and nobody was rushing to make her. As far as they were concerned, she could carry him around to her heart's content. Whatever made her happy was fine with them.

"Baby," she said, putting Stickers face to face with the doll she usually played with. "Baby, Stickers. Stickers, Baby." She moved away from the baby and made Stickers look at Mindy and James. "Mommy! Daddy!" She pouted her lips and gave Stickers an extra stern look. "My daddy."

"This is just too precious," James said with a grin. He had gotten out the video camera and was recording all of this. "What do you think Lizzie Bear?" he asked as he turned the camera to his youngest daughter. "Do you like Stickers too?"

"LAMMY!" Elizabeth shouted, waving Lammy around for the camera to see.

"Oh yes, Lammy is always good," he said with a chuckle. He moved the camera up to Mindy and he immediately frowned. She was holding Elizabeth in her arms and making it a point to not acknowledge James unless forced to. That was a gigantic red flag if he had ever seen one. She never acted like this unless something was wrong. Usually they were all over each other, showering each other with love and affection to the point where it sickened most of the people around them. But now it was different. There was a distance between them and she was the one putting it between them. Her entire behavior was changing and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"What's the matter Baby Doll?" he asked as he shut the camera off and set it aside.

A flash of annoyance went across her eyes as she frowned. "Why would anything be the matter?"

He frowned at her whole tone of voice. Yeah, something was definitely wrong. This wasn't her. "You're not yourself." He reached out and gently touched her face, cringing when she acted even more annoyed with him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter," she said sharply.

"Yes it is," he insisted. He wasn't about to be fooled. "Baby Doll please, tell me what's the matter."

"NOTHING is the matter!" she snapped, ready to take his head off just for being concerned. "We're fine!"

We're…now that gave him a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her schizophrenia was one thing, but the multiple personality disorder she had on top of it was another thing entirely. He knew that the whole "Mindy" persona that had been created really had taken over her life and it was what Miranda (the real her) hid behind and they really were completely different. He had broken through to Miranda way back when he was still with Mark and she was the one he had fallen in love with and married. He had believed he had chased "Mindy" off for good…now though, he wasn't so sure about that. The way everything seemed to be falling apart and the way they had been fighting when they never ever really fought before was just pointing to all kinds of things being wrong.

Elizabeth looked back and forth between her parents before beginning to fuss and trying to wiggle out of Mindy's grasp. James immediately took a hold of her (which visibly annoyed Mindy) and Elizabeth immediately smiled and calmed back down (which bothered Mindy even more). That's better Lizzie Bear," he cooed, hugging her and giving her an Eskimo kiss. "I don't want you to fuss sweetheart. Daddy wants you to be a happy girl."

"Da da da! Elizabeth grabbed on to his face and put her mouth on his nose, which made him laugh loudly.

"Silly Lizzie Bear." James's smile faded as Mindy got up and started to leave without another word. "Where are you going Baby Doll?"

"To check on Cooper," she replied. "Since you obviously won't bother to get off your ass and do it."

"By yourself?" He was trying to just ignore her tone and focus on somehow not getting her to go up there.

She shrugged. "Why not?"

"I don't trust him around you." He didn't give a shit how fucked up Cooper still was from whatever drugs he had been putting in his system. So what if he was so weak that it was completely pathetic? If Mindy kept hovering over him all the time, that was going to lead to him getting even more ideas and as it had already been proven, that was the very last thing that needed to happen. Cooper was dangerous when he got the wrong idea in his head.

"Yeah well get over it," she said bluntly. "You don't have ANY room to talk. It's not like he raped me with his KNIFE!" With that she stormed out of the room, leaving James feeling like he had just gotten hit in the gut with a hammer and then kicked in the balls to boot. Caroline had raped her with his knife when she had possessed him but that hadn't been him. No, he would never do anything as sick and vile to his own wife. That had been CAROLINE. Caroline had done it and he had been powerless to stop it.

"Daddy," Chelsea said, coming over to him and holding up Stickers. "Stickers!"

"I see him sweetheart," he assured her. He reached out and petted the creature on his head. "You love him very much don't you?"

"Yes!" Chelsea hugged Stickers tightly and smiled at him adoringly. "Stickers panda. My panda."

Elizabeth stared at Stickers before blowing a raspberry in his face and then holding up Lammy. "LAMMY!"

Chelsea shook her head and swatted at Lammy. "No! Stickers!"

"Lammy!" Elizabeth looked pissed that her precious Lammy got hit and she proceeded to kick at Chelsea.

"Stickers!"

"Girls please don't," he said, not sure why he was pleading with his infant daughters when they had no real idea of why he wanted them to stop. They didn't get that their mother had just turned him into an emotional mess and he was trying to keep his fucking head on straight.

"Da da!" Elizabeth pulled herself into a standing position and hugged his neck.

"No!" Chelsea said angrily. "My daddy." She set Stickers on the couch and then climbed up onto James's lap so she could grab on to him. "Mine!"

"Da!"

"Mine!"

"DA!"

"My daddy!"

"Oh Christ," James grumbled. _Here we go again…_

…

A half hour later James left Chelsea and Elizabeth with Taylor to watch for awhile while he went outside to attempt to clear his head. As far as he knew, Mindy was still up with Cooper and that was driving him insane. He wanted to go up there and get her away from him but he didn't. He just had this feeling he was asking for trouble if he did that. Mindy was just like this ticking time bomb and HE was the one she was pissed at. It fucking was just driving him insane. What the fuck was he supposed to do? He had to fix this somehow. There had to be some sort of solution…but what was it? What the fuck could he do? There was no answer in sight and it was driving him even more crazy.

_I fucking need a smoke,_ he thought to himself. His nicotine craving was through the roof but of course he didn't have a cigarette on him. He had quit because his Baby Doll had wanted him to. He supposed that since she was obviously not giving a fuck he could go out and buy a pack of cigarettes and smoke them all but he didn't. She had wanted him to quit so now he wasn't going to start again. So, instead of smoking, he took out his lighter and began intentionally burning the skin on his upper arm. He really wasn't huge on self mutilation but he fucking needed something to relieve the shit going on his head. A good massacre would have been better but he didn't want to just up and leave the babies unless absolutely, positively necessary.

"Daddy?"

James quickly slipped the lighter back into his pocket and turned around and saw that Thorn and Scarlett had come outside. "Hey," he said, putting on a smile and extending his arms so they could run into them (which they immediately did). "What are you two doing out here?" He lifted them up and held them up so they were face to face with him.

"We were looking for you Daddy," Thorn replied, hugging his neck tightly. "We have to ask you something important."

"Oh yeah? Well go ahead and ask away."

"Do we have nicknames Daddy?" Scarlett asked.

Oh shit. He realized that they didn't. Amber was Pumpkin, Chelsea was Princess, Elizabeth was Lizzie Bear, Tryg was Tarzan and Connor was Con Man…shit, how could he had not realized he didn't give his precious twins nicknames too? "Of course you do," he assured them. "You're my Sugar Plum" he kissed Scarlett on her cheek "and my Angelcakes" he kissed Thorn on the cheek.

"Sugar Plum is better," Scarlett said immediately. "Cuz I'm like one of the Sugar Plum fairies from the Nutcracker."

"Well I like Angelcakes," Thorn shot back. "Because I'm an angel AND a cake."

Scarlett rolled her eyes and began to pet James's face. "You look sad Daddy."

"Do I?"

"Yes. I don't like it. You shouldn't be sad. You're going to get all wrinkly and stuff."

"Am I?"

"Yes." Scarlett sighed and gave Thorn a hapless look. "He don't know anything."

"Boys don't get it," Thorn said wisely. "If he was a girl he would understand better."

James chuckled lightly. "Yeah. Us boys are just not programmed to get it."

"Well I'll make you get it," Scarlett declared firmly. She pointed to the house. "Take me in and let me help you. Mommy taught me all the ways to prevent wrinkles. I'll help you before its too late."

"And I'll help." Thorn wasn't about to be left out and let James's attention just go to Scarlett. "I can help too Daddy. Oxa and I are good helpers."

"Yes you are," he said. He gave them both a kiss on the cheek before heading back to the house. "After we save me from the wrinkles, do you guys want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah!"

"Hannah Montana Daddy!"

James internally gagged but he forced himself to hide it and nod along. "Sure. Whatever you want is fine with me."

…

_Somebody shoot me,_ James silently pleaded as the Hannah Montana movie continued on. Thorn and Scarlett were eating it up and Elizabeth and Chelsea were both watching as well and they were completely entranced by what was going on on the television (but that wasn't' saying much seeing as how they were entertained by pretty much anything on there). He however, did not share the same enthusiasm. The whole Hannah/Miley craze just annoyed him really. Not only was the "music" (he used quotation marks because he really didn't considered what she produced to be real music) terrible but she sucked at acting and was obviously a coke whore in either hiding or waiting to happen. Hell, she had already been caught smoking "Salvia". Salvia…what a fucking joke. That shit was weed. One of those bitches had Frosted Flakes in that video and that equaled those bitches having the munchies. So yeah, the bitch had been smoking weed. End of fucking story.

"Daddy Daddy watch!" Thorn ordered as she patted him eagerly on the leg. "Watch watch watch, this is the good part!"

"Okay honey, I'm watching," he assured her. He had no idea what was going on but he looked at the screen and saw Miley standing there in a dark room, holding a baseball bat. "Uh…wait, this don't seem right."

"No no Daddy, it's good," Scarlett assured him. "Just watch."

"But are you sure-whoa!" A masked person just came up from behind and sliced Miley right in half. "Whoa whoa whoa that's-" He stopped when he realized that none of the babies were there with him anymore. "What the fuck?" He felt his heart rate pick up as he jumped to his feet and started looking around wildly.

"You won't find them. Not here. You fell asleep during their damn movie. Some fucking daddy you are."

James's eyes returned to the screen and he immediately took a step back as the masked killer took off the disguise and revealed themselves to be Caroline. "Oh no," he groaned. "No no no…"

"Yes yes yes." Caroline threw the mask down before climbing out the television through the screen and chuckling. "Come on, you didn't think you wouldn't ever see me again now did you? You know me better than that."

"I'm waking up now," he told her, backing up until he hit the wall and couldn't go any further.

"No you are not," Caroline said sharply. "You won't wake up until I say you can."

He shook his head, just fucking hating her so much he was trembling from it. "What the fuck more do you want from me?" he asked. His voice was weak AGAIN from fear and he hated her and himself for it. "Why the fuck can't you go away? Why can't you let me be?"

She shrugged. "It's too fun to fuck with you. It's all you're good for anyway. It's not like you're useful for anything else. You were a complete disappointment and failure as a son. I mean, you did NOTHING to make ANY mother proud-"

"Nothing? I did nothing? I did EVERYTHING I could to please you! You just wouldn't stop being a bitch long enough to let me succeed!"

"You keep telling yourself that," Caroline said dismissively. "I however, will continue to face reality." She ran her hand through her hair, getting some of Miley's blood in it in the process. "You've failed as a father. Cooper's a fucking mess, the mongoloid…well he speaks for himself and who knows how screwed up these other ones are going to get screwed up by you. And as a husband-"

"Shut up," he growled, getting angrier and angrier with each passing second. "Just shut up!"

"No," she snapped. "I won't. This is MY victory speech and YOU will not interrupt it."

"Victory speech?"

"Yeah. Victory speech." She chuckled and rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Don't you get it _Jamie_? Huh? Don't you get what I did?" She smiled and it was fucking pure evil. "I killed her. I killed Miranda. I took a wire hanger and cut her throat and just let her die. That idiot Crispy Critter didn't save the real girl. He saved the bitchy personality that you thought you chased away. You so pathetically thought you saved the real girl inside of her but there's no saving her. She was meant to be dead. She tried to think differently but I killed her and-"

He couldn't fucking take anymore. He just fucking couldn't. Fueled with rage he punched her in the face as hard as he could and once she stumbled back he didn't stop. He speared her to the ground and just kept pummeling away at her until she managed to kick him off and scramble back to her feet.

"Aw, did I upset you? Do you not like to see that you lost?"

"FUCK YOU!" James grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the wall. "FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU! All you've fucking do is take take take and make my life a living hell! You take my childhood, you take my sanity, you took my life and made me a wrecking ball…fuck you. Just fuck you."

"What good is saying that going to do?" she asked impatiently. "Huh? It's not going to change anything. It's not going to bring her back-"

"I'll get her back."

"Oh really now? Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why bother? Little slut has been making out with that shithead Cooper every chance she-"

He grabbed on to her hair and slammed the back of her head against the wall as hard as he could, making her shut up at least for the moment. "I love her," he declared, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "You don't get it Mother. You'll never fucking get it. What you've done…I'll get her back. I'll get my Miranda back because she is my Baby Doll and there is no life without her. I fucking live to love her and please her and you, and that Mindy personality and nobody else in this fucking world or any other will keep her away from me."

"You're fighting a war you've already lost," Caroline informed him. "I killed your wife and she's rotting in hell with me. You're just saying this cuz you want to spite me."

"No. I love her and I will fucking fight for her. Honestly…as fun as it would be to spite you…it don't matter nearly as much to me as she does." He pushed her aside and glared at her angrily. "Now go back to hell, you fucking bi-"

"Daddy!"

James woke up with a gasp, panting for breath and looking around wildly before sighing in relief over his girls being safe and sound right on the couch with him, just like they had been to begin with.

"You fell asleep," Scarlett said with a pout.

"Are you sick Daddy?" Thorn asked. "Do you not feel good? You're all sweaty and shaky."

He took a couple deep breaths to try to calm himself down. "I'm not sick," he assured them.

"Are you sure?" Scarlett pressed on.

"Yeah…I just have a LOT of work to do."


	74. Chapter 74

**jadeMK11**: Oh it was no problem. It can be confusing, that's for sure. **cathy** and **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you!

…

"Come here…" carefully holding Cooper's hands, Mindy led him into her special music room and sat him down next to her at her huge grand piano.

He had a stumble in his step but she didn't care. The pale skin on his face was even frostier than usual yet he was also beginning to feel better…and he had her to thank for it. She managed to put him in loose clothing just incase he felt more pain and was trying to fatten him up a bit since even in the desert heat he would develop horrible fever if he wasn't properly taken care of. His long dark hair had been brushed, but Mindy actually had a bottle of peroxide waiting upstairs to dye it. He needed change in every way possible, and she wanted to help make the transition easier so his life could get back on track. As it was he walked with a hand over her butt, which he used to do before the dynamic of their relationship shifted innocently. They'd done a lot of questionable things back in the day which didn't seem so innocent but truly were. He used to go into dressing rooms with her for Christ's sake and not bat an eye. They'd sleep in the same bed, borrow clothing from the other (some of Mindy's arm warmers, gloves, and little accessories were really cool along with her famous oversized hoodies he could steal), sit in the other's lap, grope each other and god knew what else yet it was OKAY…it was all so innocent. Now though? He'd pinned her against the wall in his bedroom and made out with her while reaching a hand down and fingered a girl for the first time in his life. He wanted her afterwards too, he wanted her so bad he had one of her legs up and was pressing himself against her for more contact when she slipped right out from under him and headed for the door. Once he ran and grabbed her to follow her hopefully to a bathroom or something he was disappointedly led in here.

"What are we doing, Mommy?" he watched her close the door from across the room and come in before sitting in his lap and brushing the hair out of his face. He was so hard at this point that it hurt but clearly she didn't care.

"Saving your ass" continuing to brush the hair from his face she nodded with a kiss to his forehead, "You know Jamie will not support you so we need to find a way to give you an income"

"But Mommy…" he frowned and traced his fingers along her jaw, "I'm not talented, I can't-"

"The guys" whenever she said 'the guys' it meant her band mates, "Are really pissed at Daddy since he took me away and want to keep doin' shit…" she nodded with a soft smile, "and you know that all I do with my life is…" she motioned all around to the gigantic harp, Gibson Les Paul electric guitars along with all sorts of acoustics, and of course the grand piano, "making new shit. I have about twenty-six new songs and nothin' to do with them…the boys will get the tracks with me on them eventually to play with, but this one they are gonna get quicker because I wrote it special just for YOU"

"Dad is GOING to kill you for this"

"No he is not" she shook her head with a shrug, "This is not officially Stratusfear" she giggled and kissed his nose, "I am on piano for this and the guys will do the rest I wrote the rest of the score already…all YOU gotta do is open your mouth and sing what I tell you"

"Did you write it down?"

Much to his shock a typed set of lyrics was handed to him with her on backup and one of the sets actually had a part for Kanye West written into it, making two versions of the same song.

"Makes it marketable" Mindy explained kindly, "People love duets as it is…and when you are a no name like you featuring people like me and him, it makes people want to listen. I really will not be singing much I am just gonna pull a Santana and sit here nice and quiet on the piano, jumping in on backup where I see fit. Kanye already recorded his parts all the studio has to do is sample it in when I say to in the lyrics."

"How did you do all this?" pouting his lips he shook his head in astonishment, "You can't read or write English-"

"Ambie typed what I dictated" Mindy nodded with a bright smile before rubbing his back, "Now…before we get to this though I need you to tell me you can sing, because if you do not believe you can then you never will be able to in a recording studio-"

"I can't sing, Mommy!" he shook his head so with a sigh and hard kiss on the lips Mindy headed over and pulled her purple shimmery acoustic guitar with a black sparkly neck and cleared her throat, taking a breath and playing and singing something so incredibly familiar Cooper had to smile.

"_Once more I'll say goodbye to you. Things happen but we don't really know why. If it's supposed to be like this…Why do most of us ignore the chance to miss? Oh, yeah… Torn apart at the seams of my dreams turn to tears, I'm not feelin' this situation. Run away try to find that safe place you can hide. It's the best place to be when you're feeling like"_

He had to smile at her cranking out Bullet for My Valentine; he didn't even know she listened to it. Most of the music she played was strange though; he had to give her that.

"_Me…!" _she growled almost as a yell and he joined right in subconsciously.

"_Me…!" _he growled right behind her in a yell so perfect she wanted to kiss him.

"_Yeah!" _she screamed and looked to him to pick up the slack, and he did_._

"_Yeah!"_

Together they sang as Mindy kept going on the guitar_, "All these things I hate revolve around"_

"_Me…!" _Mindy screamed again.

"_Me…!" _now it was just becoming the mimicking game and he was glad to play.

"_Yeah!"_

"_Yeah!"_

Together they went again_, "Just back off before I snap!"_

Mindy played the little guitar solo right after and he laughed before she giggled and ran his fingers through his hair.

"So you CAN sing, my little canary" she giggled and gave him an Eskimo kiss, "Which is good. I got enough for you to release an album."

"What?" snorting he shook his head, "Mommy…!"

"Shut up and play" she handed him a stack of lyrics and he stared at the set of lyrics for 'Attack' when she ran, picked up, the purple Gibson Les Paul, and began to play one of the coolest opening guitar riffs he'd ever heard, and he gulped while looking at her.

"How do I…?"

"Pick your own delivery" she nodded while replaying the opening and he gulped, "I will join in on chorus, darling just go!"

Nervous as all hell since he was forced to impress his music prodigy mother, he gulped and softly began to sing the first verse to Mindy's incredibly awesome little tempo she had going on.

"_I won't suffer, be broken, get tired, or wasted. Surrender to nothing," _suddenly getting confident at how it was sounding his tone spiked up to something so much louder and beautiful Mindy's jaw dropped_, "I'll give up what I…Started and stop this, from end to beginning. A new day is calling," _

Mindy cut off guitar entirely and Cooper didn't even know it before breaking into a scream all by himself that sounded so incredibly amazing Mindy almost cried.

"_and I am finalizing! Fight!" _

Mindy jumped into the chorus with the guitar and he happily started sing-screaming.

"_Run away, run away, I'll attack! Run away, run away, go chase yourself! Run away, run away, now I'll attack! I'll attack, I'll, whoa…!" _he screamed and stopped so Mindy could get a little guitar solo before continuing, _"I would have kept you, forever, what we had to server. It ended for both of us," _Mindy stopped playing so he could sing acapella, _"faster than a" _she jumped back in, _"Kill off this thinking, it's starting to sink in I'm losing control now, and without you I can finally see! Fight!"_

Mindy stopped playing and put the guitar down and Cooper already read he mind. He launched forwards and caught her in a kiss, kissing her as hard and passionately as he could before slipping in his tongue for an intense makeout session. The want, the need, it all drove him to stand up and lift her into a carry so both little legs wrapped around his waist.

Despite not having much oxygen he backed so her body was against the wall and her legs kept firmly locked around his waist. His lips travelled down her neck and onto her collarbone when she pulled his shirt over his head and he easily tore hers, pulling her breasts out of the pushup bra and grab at them before placing his mouth over one at a time. One of her hands found his hair and the other rested over his shoulder, her body going into a trance as he kissed both breasts and teased her nipples with his tongue before trickling his fingers further south.

Her breathing hitched the moment her panties were pushed aside and with three fingers he began rubbing her wetness just like he did earlier. She gasped once he himself got the urge for more and moved his whole hand down to stroke and play with her need. One at a time his fingertips found her clit and made small circles until she moaned and bucked into his hand happily, staring into his eyes and kissing him when the fingers delved inside her and he kissed her to cut off the moan. Watching how easily his fingers slipped in and out of her made his cock so hard it was killing him.

"Fuck Mom…" all he could stare at was his fingers and how well she rode them to make him crazy. She was so wet and warm and it made him beyond hard. He needed her to touch him, he needed her to fuck him but didn't want to spoil the visual of her riding his fingers. She even convulsed as he rubbed her clit and now he couldn't take it. With one hand he released his cock from his pants and arched her way, so she stuck out a hand and brushed against it, "Oh fuck Mommy, more…" he begged, "more please…"

One single hand of hers pet and stroked his cock, and he couldn't help it so he thrust forward into her hand while continuing to finger her. That lasted a few minutes, him fingering her harder with every stroke of his cock and she more than determined to make him cum. It was too much though, they had driven each other so wild he had to rub the head of his cock in her wetness and she sighed before placing her wet center on his shaft and rubbing against him frantically and he thrust equally as hard even though he wasn't inside her. She was fucking him dry and he loved it…and it wasn't even technically dry because she was rubbing herself against his cock.

"Mom…" pulling her back for a moment he went to slip inside when blood spilled everywhere, and once Mindy gasped and held a hand up Cooper realized it came from her nose.

"Fuck!" she hissed and pushed him away.

"Mommy!" he went to go after her when she waved him away and stumbled into the nearest bathroom, slamming the door behind her and dropping her head in the sink to watch the blood run when there was a rapping on the mirror.

"Serves you RIGHT!" the mirror shouted at her and Mindy lifted her eyes and narrowed them to see the reflection didn't match her.

It was her, only instead of the skirt and top she wore it was a long white semi-transparent lacy dress with black rings around her eyes and the tresses of raven all piled into a messy bun which stacked so high it looked like a dementedly beautiful updo.

"What the hell do YOU want?" Mindy barked at Miranda, who narrowed her eyes and slapped a palm to the mirror because she was stuck.

"GO AWAY!" Miranda screamed at her and started crying hysterically, "GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!"

"NO!" Mindy shouted at her and shook her head, "For WHAT? You to fawn all over James again and KILL US?"

"HE DIDN'T MEAN IT! HE DIDN'T!" Miranda begged and pleaded with tears streaming down her face, "Go away leave my Jamie alone PLEASE let me have my Jamie PLEASE! He thinks you are me! PLEASE he thinks you are me! Just-"

"Good" Mindy shrugged indifferently and wrinkled her nose, "You're fucking pathetic…you should see yourself."

"I WANT my JAMIE!" Miranda screamed childishly and cried harder, "You are STEALING him away and making him HATE me! He did not marry YOU!"

"YES" Mindy corrected nastily, "He DID. Only I let YOU go for once and LOOK WHAT YOU DID! You made us his little fucking whores!"

"No…!" Miranda shook her head and cried louder, "No no, he LOVES ME HE DOES! I love him and you hurt him! You hurt him, you hurt him, you did!"

"OH!" Mindy's eyebrow rose and she snorted, "Like he's never hurt us?"

"He did NOT!" Miranda screamed and cried, "You MAKE HIM HURT STOP! I LOVE JAMIE! I LOVE HIM! I LOVE HIM! I LOVE HIM! I LOVE HIM MORE THAN ANYONE PLEASE GIVE ME MY JAMIE! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MY JAMIE!"

"Cooper won't like that too mu-"

"FUCK COOPER! I DON'T CARE!" Miranda screamed at her with barred teeth, "HE GOT HIM-FUCKING-SELF IN THIS FUCK HIM! I HATE HIM HE RAPED ME! I WANTED JAMIE TO KILL HIM I DID! I WANT JAMIE BACK!"

"Ah…" Mindy nodded with curled lips, "SO I'm guessing YOU did this?" she meant the nosebleed she was stopping, and Miranda nodded with wide eyes.

"Whatcha gonna do about it?"

"Hm" Mindy pulled a razor from a shelf and held her wrist up to the mirror, slicing across it so hard Miranda was screaming and cradling her bleeding wrists, but Mindy just kept going. She cut her arms, her legs, her chest, her stomach, everywhere and Miranda couldn't stop crying and trying to stop the red stains seeping through her white dress.

"I HATE YOU!" Miranda screamed and shook her head, "I WANT JAMIE BACK GIMMIE JAMIE BACK!"

"The next time you see him is divorce court followed by when he drops us back at the hospital. I don't need YOU making him closer and closer to killing us and making us his little slut. You're disgusting and I hope he leaves us"

"No!" Miranda shook her head and cried, "He loves me, he does!"

"Please" Mindy rolled her eyes, "Who could ever realistically love YOU? You cannot even brush your own HAIR. I'm doing us a favor before you try to kill us again…" getting faint from loss of blood she nodded, "This idiot is not the answer; JAMES…is not the answer for you. The second somebody he actually cares about comes back in his life we're finished because YOU are gonna off us."

"I love Jamie"

"I don't care…you're MINE now…that means you do as I say. I kept us alive…its because of ME that you have him to begin with. You owe me, Randi…you owe me big time."

"Stop hurting Jamie"

"He looks at me or our babies the wrong way I'll fucking kill him."


	75. Chapter 75

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Oh yeah, definitely. And thank you. **cathy**: XD

…

Knowing that he had to do something was one thing; actually doing it was another thing entirely. James had taken Elizabeth and had taken refuge in his office so he could think without too many distractions. Dropkicking the Mindy personality and bringing Miranda back was not going to be as easy as he wanted it to be. He wanted to just go up to her and talk to her and just coax her back out but SHE wasn't going to let that happen. The Mindy personality was out in full force and she obviously wasn't happy with him. Anything he said to her would just be thrown back in his face and he would just end up getting burned by one of her verbal low blows. She had no intention of going away and just words wasn't going to be enough to chase her off. No, he had to do something much more than that.

"Da da da," Elizabeth cooed, trying her best to make herself once again be the center of his attention. He could only smile weakly though and hug her against his chest. She looked a lot like him and already had his personality to boot but every time he looked at her blonde hair and blue eyes he saw his Baby Doll. His Baby Doll, his Miranda Marie…to say he was madly in love with her would be an understatement. He constantly wanted and needed his wife to the point that most would get scared and call it an obsession. He didn't give a shit what other people thought. Her and the kids were what he lived for. Pretty much every move he made revolved around them in some way. Yes he was a fucked up psychotic killer; he made no denies to himself about that because he accepted that he had issues ages ago. But despite those issues his life revolved around his family. He lived and breathed for all of them and would kill or die for any one of them without a problem.

"What is Daddy going to do Lizzie Bear?" he asked as he gently played with his daughter's hair. "Huh? Can you tell Daddy what he should do?"

Elizabeth just grabbed his hand and stuck his fingers in her mouth so she could nom on them. Of course she didn't have the answer. How could she? She was a baby. Her world revolved around getting attention from her parents and Lammy.

"You know, when I first met Mommy, I was with someone else," he said, only saying this to her because there was no chance she was going to actually process it. "Mark…boy he was a fucking ass. I don't know why I wasted so many years on him. Once we got to a certain point all he did was cheat on me and only really loved me when it was convenient for him." He pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head. "I stayed because I had no self respect and nobody else to go to. I hate being alone. Caroline fucked me up from the beginning so I have to be with someone because I need someone to love me. Mommy says I could have had anybody I wanted but come on. Let's face facts: who wants a serial killer with Mommy issues? I mean really." He kissed her forehead lovingly. "I hated him as much as I loved him sometimes…now the thought of him just annoys me." He kissed her forehead again. "Although if I hadn't stayed with him as long as I did, I might not have met Baby Doll. Meeting your mommy changed me Lizzie Bear. It took my entire world and flipped it upside down. Annabelle was the only woman I had ever really looked at but then your mommy comes along and BAM! She's the center of my universe."

Elizabeth cooed some more which made James hug her even more tightly. Of course he was leaving out quite a bit of the story. When he had first met Mindy he did think she was pretty and he flirted but really, he hadn't intended for anything to form and grow between them. But then he had inadvertently hurt her in Mark's kitchen and was made by Mark to go outside and comfort her. That led to a conversation that was burned into his memory and would never ever leave him. That was the night that he had broken past the Mindy façade she constantly lived behind and broke through to Miranda, the damaged girl on the inside that he had ended up falling in love with. Nothing had been the same since that night. Absolutely nothing and he hadn't regretted it for one single second.

Of course, at the time, he hadn't realize the significance of what he had done. It wasn't until later on that he began to get it. He got it now though. He got it real good. And he had to do it again, only this time it was definitely not going to be easy. He had an idea though. It wasn't an idea that he really wanted to go through with; he'd rather stand up on the tallest mountain and shout out his love for her in hopes of coaxing Miranda back out. But that wouldn't really work to get her out; he would have to do that afterwards, once he got her back to help KEEP her back out. It was GETTING her back out that would be the main issue. The only reason he really reached her to begin with was because he pretty much rejected Mindy and had freaked her the fuck out.

Rejection…that might be the only way to do it again. Not full on rejection though. No no no. He could never do that. Not only because he didn't ever want to do it but more importantly, because he knew if one toe was put out of line and things got out of his control even just a little bit, he wouldn't have a wife anymore. His Baby Doll always said she without him and knew damn well she wasn't fucking around by saying that. The instant he was gone she was dead. That was not something he ever liked to think about because facing her mortality scared him more than his own, but it was a reality he HAD to face because of this plan. Usually he was a rather blunt instrument when it came to plans but not this time. This time he had to be more careful and precise than he had ever been before in his life. He could only let this be a scare tactic before he swooped in and kicked down the walls that had been put up between him and his wife.

He could do it. He's fucking do it because this was his wife on the line and he would do anything for her. He had said it multiple times and proved it on several occasions. He knew her paranoia and some of his fucked up decisions in the past would probably always leave lingering doubts in her mind but he didn't care. He wasn't going to let her go for anything. He'd walk through hell and back for her, no questions, no complaints. As long as it was for his Baby Doll, he would do it.

The question became though, who the hell did he use as his prop in this plan? A random girl or guy off the streets? No, not enough emotional significance. Plus if he had to force them into it Mindy would probably be able to tell and wouldn't be fooled. An Annabelle look-alike? Now there was a possibility. He knew damn well how Baby Doll felt about his sister. Having a look-alike that could act like her would probably work…but there just wasn't time to go out and find a girl like that. Time was of the complete essence. He had to make this stop before it got even further and something really REALLY bad happened.

"I know what I gotta do Lizzie Bear," he said with a sigh. "I do. I don't want to do it…yeah I know I didn't complain when he was around last time because he helped get Mom out of me but I don't want him back around again. After everything he's put Baby Doll and me through I don't ever want to see his face again."

Elizabeth just stared at him before putting Lammy in her mouth and chewing on his face. James smiled weakly at her before grabbing the phone. He knew this was pretty much the only option he truly had but he hated it. Mark was his ex and he knew that it would scare his Baby Doll if he came back into the picture. She had this belief she wasn't good enough for him and would go back to Mark if he had the chance or whatever. It wasn't true at all though. He wouldn't go back. Not ever. He was happy with Miranda and had absolutely no intention of going anywhere else.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered under his breath as he waited for Mark to answer the phone. "Lizzie Bear you have no idea how much I don't want to do this. I don't think I've ever dealt with all my anger towards him…he hurt your mother and me very badly and I think I should kill him once this is all said and done…"

"Lawson?" Mark's gruff voice sounded very tired.

James raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How did you know it was me?"

"I still recognize your number you doof."

"What does HE want?" Michelle asked from the other end. She had overheard Mark greet James and now obviously wanted to put her nose in where it didn't belong.

"Don't let her listen in Mark," James said, not in the mood to talk to her along with Mark. "I have to talk to you alone."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes damn it. Now ditch your bitch!" Normally James would have laughed at his own rhyme but not today. Today he was all business.

"Okay okay," Mark grumbled. "Hold on." The mouth part of the phone got covered up so James couldn't hear what was going on at the other end. He tapped his foot impatiently and hummed the Jeopardy theme song under his breath while he waited.

"Okay," Mark said when he finally got back on the phone. "What's going on?"

"Baby Doll's Mindy switch has been turned on and I can't get it through to Miranda," James answered, launching right in because he wasn't going to waste any time. "I mean really, its really not good. She's not herself at ALL and I can't get through to her. The evil one has put up the Berlin wall and I can't get it to crash down."

"Okay…but why are you calling me? We both know Miranda devotes her whole entire existence to you-"

"And that don't do shit with Mindy pushing me away!" James shot back. "Mindy is keeping my Baby Doll away from me."

"Again, I don't see why-"

"I gotta plan. And I'm going to state for the record right now that I don't want to do this and you're the last person I want to ask but I don't really have any other options."

"Well thanks," Mark said sarcastically. "That just makes me feel so special."

James ignored him and kept on talking. "You remember that night we were in the kitchen and I ended up having to go outside to comfort Baby Doll?"

"How can I forget? That night kind of turned our whole fucking relationship upside down."

"Our relationship should have been over long before then."

Mark only grunted and James knew that was just his way of not wanting to acknowledge he was right. "Anyway, I need lightning to strike twice so-"

"We're going to blow each other in your kitchen?" This was said so matter of factly that Mark might as well have been asking James to pass the salt.

"NO!" James didn't even try to control the volume of his voice. If Mark had been in the room he would have fucking beat the snot out of him for that. "Why would you fucking even ask me that? How fucking dare you? I wouldn't EVER do that to-"

"Lawson! I was joking!" Mark interjected.

"I'm not laughing," James snapped.

"Obviously." Mark's tone was so neutral and casual that it was like he wasn't being yelled at all. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have said that."

Now it was James's turn to grunt. He really wasn't accepting Mark's apology but he didn't have time to keep the argument up. "I just need you to show up and be around to rattle her cage so I can get through and fix-"

"Lawson…you do know this multiple personality stuff is not just going to go away because you give her cage a rattle. This is a lifelong thing, just like the schizophrenia."

"I'm well aware of that," James replied. "I'm not an idiot."

"I never said-"

"Mark I don't have time for a big long discussion. What I need from you is to just show up, be in our presence and then go away once this works. You owe me after I willingly put up with years and years of your crap."

"As I'm well aware," Mark said dryly. "I don't suppose just apologizing and pointing out that I helped get Caroline out of you won't do anything for you, will it?"

"Right now? No. My Baby Doll is on the line here Mark. She's the only one I give a damn about."

Mark let out a long sigh. "Fine, whatever, I'll help."

"Fine. Just don't think you can start any funny business or-"

"You'll chop me up and leave me in the desert?"

"Oh I'll do worse than that-"

"DADDY!"

Tryg's frightened yell made James's heart drop through his stomach and down to the floor. "Shit…"

"What happened?" There was a bit of concern in Mark's tone but James didn't really address it. He just hung up the phone and leapt to his feet, exiting the office and having to skid to a halt to avoid bowling over Tryg.

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

"What? What happened?" There were a lot of possibilities floating through James's brain and none of them were good.

"Mommy locked herself in the bathroom and we heard her screaming." Tryg was pretty hysterical so it was almost impossible for James to tell what it was that he was saying. "And Cooper's looking for the skeleton key to get her out but you can't let him in there Daddy!"

Damn right he couldn't. He sprinted away, stopping only to hand Elizabeth off to Taylor and then taking off again. Cooper was just coming back with the skeleton key and James snatched it out of his hands before he knew what had happened. "Get away," James growled. "Now."

Cooper actually had the nerve to glare at him. "I want to-"

"GET AWAY!" James smirked as Cooper quickly jumped back in fear and then unlocked the door and slipped inside. "Baby Doll what-" His voice died in his throat when he saw the state she was in. There was blood EVERYWHERE. She had done such a number on herself with a razor that it made him want to throw up it scared him so bad. "Oh fuck oh fuck!" He grabbed a towel and tried to go to her so he could attempt to stop the bleeding but she let out a feral scream and slashed at him with the razor, cutting him right on the arm.

"Fuck!" he yelled, more shocked than anything else. As much as it hurt though, he ignored his pain and snatched the razor out of her hand and tossed it away. "Jesus fuck Baby Doll-"

She wasn't even hearing a word he was saying. She just stared at the blood on his arm and shook her head. "No…no no no NO! YOU HURT JAMIE YOU HURT JAMIE!" She began pelting herself right in the face with her own fists, scaring the fuck out of him

"MIRANDA!" he grabbed her wrists and pulled her into a bear hug to restrain her, also doing his best to press the towel against her many lacerations. "Baby Doll stop! Please stop!" He shook his head as she just cried and howled, causing him to drop down to his knees and tremble uncontrollably as he continued to hold her.


	76. Chapter 76

**Esha Napoleon**: Oh yeah, definitely. **jadeMK11**: James better damn well hope this works and it goes EXACTLY how he wants it to go or he could very well end up with a wife whose blowing her brains out all over the place. This is a very very delicate situation he's facing right now. **NeroAnne**: Oh it's okay we understand *hugs* And oh yeah, something definitely needs to be done. Her head is just not in a good place at all and it's affecting everyone. **cathy**: If anyone can do it it's him. And hopefully he can do it fast.

…

Like he always did after Mindy diced herself up, James started a bath with the hottest water he could stand before lowering the trembling Mindy in and immediately she screamed in pain trying to get out.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, ssssshh no no" shaking his head and petting her face lovingly, James leaned down and smoothed her hair before resting the bridge of his nose against the side of her face, "Baby Doll please sssssshh…"

Still she whimpered like mad from how badly the cuts stung, so he knelt in front of the tub and took his shirt off so it wouldn't become drenched and leaned over the water to stabilize her.

"Hey!"

"It HURTS!" she whined; tossing and trying to kick at the water to splash it up everywhere but he held her knees down, "IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS!"

"I know, baby, I know…" he cooed with a kiss to her temple, "I love you, Baby Doll I wouldn't ever make you do something if it wasn't going to make you better.

"LIAR!" with barred teeth she growled but James discovered that by ignoring her comments she didn't come back with another, she almost tuckered herself out.

Instead she just sat quiet as he grabbed the softest washcloth he could find and rubbed it in Neosporin before coating her wounds with it silently. She didn't say a word, but watched him very closely as to make sure he didn't do anything funny. Not too far into it though, her eyes found his incredibly sculpted abs and lingered there. For someone who did nothing he had an absolutely beautiful physique especially considering his age. If he truly looked his age there would be none of that, but something clearly kept him so youthful and it was intriguing to her. He sat so quiet cleaning her wounds he didn't even notice her scanning every nuance of his half-clothed body. The skin was light, but tanned by the desert sun all over instead of the farmer tan most people tended to get because he spent a lot of time playing with the babies in the pool.

She had to reach out and trickle a finger down his washboard all the way down to his navel, where she continued to brush her fingers along his lower abs and eventually trail back up to feel his pectorals and the rest of his muscular torso. He did feel her touching him that way and leaned over her more so she could keep doing it. Miranda, Mindy, whatever, he wanted his wife. He missed his wife something scary and if she wanted to touch him? So be it. She could touch him any way she wanted as long as her icy skin made contact with his.

Forcing herself to lean up she pushed out of the water enough to kiss his lower abs and start working her way up his stomach. He cringed at first more from surprise than anything, but took a deep breath before ceasing treating her so he could see what she was doing. At his chest she kissed everywhere and slowly worked her way up to his neck, squeezing his shoulders before kissing all into his throat.

"Baby Doll…" he exhaled while slowly beginning to trail his hands up her sides, and her mind caught it so her entire body was arched for his touch.

Still kissing his neck she got low enough to a sensitive spot of skin right near the bottom of his throat by the one definable beauty mark on his body right in the lower center of his neck.

"Oh Baby Doll" his hands cupped her breasts and he gasped happily when she physically bit into his neck until his skin was pierced and sucked the blood up under her lips. It was pain, yet made his cock get beyond hard under his pants. She bit him as hard as she could and he found it so incredibly sexy probably because they hadn't touched the other this way in so long anything from her would make him crazy.

Unable to take it any longer, he treated his hands to her breasts and kneaded them when her lips covered his and that was it. His tongue drove into her mouth and one hand dropped to make slow, lazy circles around her swollen clit he smiled under his breath; she was completely wet and hot for him after all.

Sighing deeply as they made out one of her hands dropped to his pants to unbutton them, but instead of releasing his cock she just dropped a hand in and touched it. It hurt, but it hurt so good he couldn't complain. The space wasn't nearly enough to jack him off, but instead he was stroked, caressed, and fondled in a way that made him two seconds from cumming all over her hand. Breathing harder she removed her hand and helped him get his pants off before knocking him onto his back on the cold tiled ground and taking his cock in her hand to gently pump him while kissing his chest and kicking the bloodied spot on his neck.

He tried not to buck his hips into her hand as she kissed all down his body until getting to his cock, which she licked the head of and teased with her tongue before taking him in her mouth and making him gasp while holding her hair. Her hands had to be used for help since he was so big, but eventually she moistened and worked him into such a fever his entire length could get down her throat until he came.

"Baby Doll!" holding her hair and panting he watched her lick and swallow every drop of his seed before pulling her on top of him and thrusting in, actually sitting up and letting them grind into the other for a moment before he stood and climbed into the filled tub with her to stand up and gently slam her into the wall with her legs hooked around his waist.

"James…" she sighed and kissed him while he took her, proving with every thrust just how much he loved her. He didn't know if it was love that was making her act this way towards him or need, but either way it was something that HE put there. She needed him.

"I love you…" he breathed against her lips while feeling her walls tighten for her own orgasm, "I love you, Baby Doll, so fucking much. I need you every second of every day I love you! I fucking love you please"

"Mmmm James!" her breathing sharpened and she sighed from her orgasm, but James wasn't finished and it upset her. With a frown she breathed into his mouth and began riding his cock harder, "James cum for me, please…I need you to cum James please I'm so wet I need you"

Panting he sat down in the corner of the tub with her riding his cock from the front and they groand hard; Mindy especially holding his neck while humping and he dropped a hand to rub her clit as she rode him.

"Tell me you love me" he rasped into her ear while kissing the side of her face and hugging her close, "You don't have to mean it, just say the words" he nodded and didn't even notice his eyes getting red and puffy, "let me hear them, please Baby Doll I love you"

"Alright, alright!" she practically pushed him back irritably and nodded, "I love you. Happy?"

He looked so dejected he wanted to cry, but nodded anyway painful as it was to do so and came for her.

…

Cooper practically sat outside the bathroom waiting for her to come out with James when something very very sharp was held against his throat…and it felt awfully familiar.

"You stay away from my mother, you hear me?"

"AMBER?" his blue eyes widened in shock when the little girl pressed the knife harder and he nearly gagged to get himself out of that situation.

"You did enough to her and TRUST ME…" her eyes narrowed and she barred her teeth, "My mommy can't fucking stand you. Do you even remember how you RAPED her?"

"Amber…" he gulped hard and trembled, "please…drop the knife"

"Not until you agree to get the FUCK away from my Mommy!"

"Listen, kid…" if he could have gotten his eyes to her he would have, "don't make me have to hurt you"

"Your aorta will be painting the walls by then" she nodded with wide eyes and held the knife harder, "My mommy doesn't want YOU and your crazy shit"

"You don't know that" he growled when Amber hopped right to it with wide eyes, "Oh, but I do, Cooper Benjamin Calaway"

He would have killed her if a knife wasn't to his throat.

"I know Mommy better than you EVER did and ever will. And she will NEVER love you, alright? You" she smacked his face with barred teeth and held the knife so it actually began to pierce skin a little, "KNOW my Mommy has MPD you KNOW that! My Mommy is SICK, she is and ALL you do is HURT and make it WORSE!"

"Amber, what are you"

"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT'S NOT MY MOMMY? HUH?" she screamed in his ear and smacked him again.

"CHRIST! OW!"

"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT'S MINDY? THAT'S NOT MY MOMMY! MOMMY HATES YOU SHE TOLD ME HERSELF! SHE TELLS ME EVERYTHING AND SHE HATES YOU! MINDY IS USING YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE RETARDED! SHE LOVES MAKING RETARDED BOYS CRY SHE IS DOING IT TO JAMES TOO! YOU" she kicked him and held the knife harder, "are just an even bigger MORON than I ever imagined! Mommy will NEVER love you! You're just CRAZY!"

"Amber shut the FUCK up before I"

"WHAT? DO WHAT COOPER? KILL ME?" she screamed ands threw James's hunting knife to the ground, "GO AHEAD! DO IT! DO IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF MOMMY!"

"You said that wasn't"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I SAID! MY Mommy is still in there somewhere and I HATE what you boys do to her all the time! You AND James! You HURT and RAPE and SCREAM and CALL HER NAMES and LEAVE HER and PUT HER ON THE SIDE and MAKE HER CRY and I am SICK of it! Daddy should have known Mommy was sick instead of being a BITCH about it now! Nobody gives a shit about his feelings! He has to make my Mommy better! Don't like it, give her to somebody else!"

"Me" Cooper spoke up and Amber had to laugh. She laughed so hard at him her stomach hurt before lifting James's knife Mindy bought him once more and tantalizingly jabbing it his way a few extra times just to see what he did.

"YOU?" she snorted, "You can't take care of a DOG! You can't even take care of YOURSELF! Mommy didn't even WANT to help you but she did god knows why! Mommy fucking HATES you! HATES! HATES HATES HATES! BUT SHE HELPED YOU! AND YOU NEVER HELPED YOURSELF! You did NOTHING but get yourself hooked on drugs and NO James will NEVER forgive you, but you know what?" she shook her head with clouded eyes, "I will never forgive James either! He beat my Mommy and did all those horrible things to her I don't want anything to DO with him I hate him so much! Dead mom or not he LEFT Mommy PREGNANT with Lizzie Bear all by herself to DIE and NO that was NOT by accident! I HATE HIM! He's only being nice to Mommy until MARK shows up and then it is all over. Mommy is CRAZY I tried telling him that but he did not care to listen"

She knew James was in the room next door with her mother but she didn't care. She wanted him to hear it.

"He thinks the crazy goes away because he gives her a pill milkshake?" she snorted and shook her head, "He has NO idea what she's like. He did not marry Miranda, we all love my Mommy as Miranda she's crabby and cute and we love her…but he married Mindy too! He has to love Mindy too even though she hates everyone! He married BOTH she will NEVER go away! My old daddy didn't CARE!" she shook her head at Cooper and cried loudly before stamping her foot, "I hate this family so much you're all crazy I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU!" she screamed and bolted out of the room, slamming James's knife to the ground as Cooper just watched her go and there was a clearing of the throat in a doorway behind Cooper, which made him gasp as he turned to see Taylor holding Elizabeth and Lammy at the same time.

"She has a point, you know" she shrugged nonchalantly and eyeballed Cooper, "You never did help yourself even to a donut."

She bounced a squealing Elizabeth in her arms and kissed the side of her blonde head before heading towards the stairs where Amber ran off to go calm her down.


	77. Chapter 77

**Esha Napoleon**: Yes she is. And you do not fuck with her or her mother. Prime example as to why right there. And thank you : ) **jadeMK11**: No she's not. She's just tired of seeing her mother hurt and all the stuff Mindy said to her about James killing Miranda and all that from a few chapters ago has gotten to her. **cathy**: Thank you!

…

Cooper stared at the wall blankly, a lit cigarette dangling loosely from his lips. He had found a packs stashed under the floorboard of his bed; how it had gotten there was a mystery to him and at the moment, it was a mystery he didn't care to solve. Right now he was too focused on staring blankly at the wall and sucking as much nicotine into his lungs as humanly possible. After the whole confrontation with Amber he had retreated upstairs to his room to brood, making sure to lock the door just in case the six year old decided to come in and try something against him. An attack made against you by Amber was nothing to blow off. She may have been a kid but she didn't fuck around. Once you were on her bad side you had to watch your back because she would fuck your shit up.

He took another long drag of his cigarette, not flinching as the ashes fell off the tip and landed on his lap. The slight pain he felt was nothing. He was way too busy once again wallowing in his emotional pain…yeah he did this way too much. He couldn't help it though. He really couldn't. Amber's words had really fucking stung him. He wanted to just blow them off. What did she know? She was just a kid. She had no idea what had been going on lately…right? That had to be right. She didn't know. She thought she knew but she didn't. She was just plain wrong.

But as much as he tried to tell himself that, deep DEEP down inside he knew that HE was the one that was wrong. He didn't WANT to know that. He had fucked up his own life beyond recognition and wanted it to be worth it. As long as Mindy loved him, it would all work itself out somehow.

Of course, according to Amber, it actually WAS the Mindy personality in full control and she was using him for her own amusement. She was using him to hurt him and she was doing the exact same thing to James. Mindy was a man-eater and she was chewing them both up and spitting them out. Cooper kept trying to deny that very possibility to himself because it meant he was continuing to risk a very painful death for nothing. It wouldn't matter to James which personality was in the driver's seat and that she let him touch her in that way. The instant James found out was the instant he was dead. End of story.

Normally that very thought would scare the fuck out of him but he couldn't really even think about it at the moment. No, he was more focused on something else that Amber had said. She had said her mommy hated him…obviously she was referring to Miranda…she had said Miranda hated him and that just about killed him. Being used was one thing; he didn't like thinking about that but that was something he could deal with a lot easier than being hated. He loved her so fucking much he couldn't stand the thought of her hating him. Of course people would say he DESERVED her hatred but he didn't give a shit. Just thinking about her actually hating him made him want to shrivel up into a ball and die.

_Well what the fuck did you expect?_ a nasty little voice in the back of his head said. _I mean really, what the FUCK did you EXPECT? You not only raped her and deluded yourself into thinking that it was consensual? You're fucking pathetic and sick. You should have just fucking died back in the desert before Joie could save you. It was what you fucking deserved you piece of shit._

"Stop it," he muttered, banging the back of his head against the wall in an effort to make that voice shut up. "Stop it stop it stop it!"

_Why? Why should I stop? Why should I make things any easier on you? You're a useless, pathetic piece of shit that whines and cries when things don't go your way. Nearly thirty years old and you can't even take care of yourself. You're pathetic. Joie's better off dead, Jeff's better off alone and you're a fool to think Mindy could ever really love someone like you._

"Shut up!" he whined, taking his lit cigarette and pressing it against his arm so he could try to make the voice stop. He knew that it was right and didn't want to hear it. But even with not hearing it he couldn't escape the facts. He was a fucking useless waste of space. He had always been a waste of space. Look at him now. He couldn't even take care of himself. All he was good at was screwing things up and attracting death and pain to anyone that associated with him.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. He continued to push the cigarette into his arm for a bit before flicking it across the room. No matter which way he cut it, he was in a fuck of a mess yet again. And of course he didn't know what to do. He NEVER knew what to do. It went along quite nicely with him being worthless and pathetic.

Was this what he had gotten sober for? To finally realize how much he truly failed as a human being? Because if that was it, he was willing to go back to the streets and start using all over again. Yeah that would just prove a whole bunch of people right but he didn't know if he had it in him to prove them wrong. He would like to…but when he didn't know how and was once again feeling like dying, it made him feel like he would just fuck all that up, just like he did everything else.

…

"I cannot believe you're doing this," Michelle said as she watched Mark pack his bags. She had been trying to pry what the phone call had been about out of him but he was refusing to tell her. All he had said was that he needed to go to Las Vegas for a few days and that didn't set well with her at all. "Do you remember how you came home last time? Your face was black and blue-"

"Yeah well things should hopefully go different this time," Mark said without looking up from what he was doing. He really wished she hadn't been home when James had called. He knew she was nagging out of concern because he had gotten pretty beat up but still, she was being very very distracting. "I'm not de-possessing my ex-boyfriend. I'm just helping out and doing something besides sit on my ass and contemplate retirement while you work."

Michelle pursed her lips together at that comment. There were a lot of things she could say, especially considering the fact that the way his body was breaking down that that retirement was something that just needed to be done and not contemplated…but she decided to keep that one to herself for now. That would be a discussion for another day. "So what IS the reason you're rushing off to see him?"

"He needs a favor and it sounded like it couldn't wait," Mark replied, keeping things as cryptic as possible. He knew James and Mindy weren't Michelle fans and didn't figure they would appreciate him blabbing the situation to her. "And I'm not rushing to see him. I'm rushing to get to the airport so I can just get that bitch of a situation over with."

"Right…" Michelle wanted to believe him but couldn't. Not all the way. There was just something…she wasn't sure if she was just being paranoid or if there was something off about the situation. "Just call me when you land, okay?"

"Fine," he agreed. He finished packing his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll call ya." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before taking off out of the room, making Michelle wonder whether she had anything to worry about or not.

…

Once Mindy's wounds had been bandaged up, James carried her to their bedroom and just sat on the bed, cradling her in his arms like she really was a baby doll. She had drifted off to sleep and had no idea what he was doing and that was okay. With her asleep it was easier to pretend that Mindy hadn't reared her head and Miranda was still in the driver's seat. He was trying not to dwell on the entire scene in the bathroom but he couldn't help himself. The sight of her covered in her own blood was one he hated and then the sex that had taken place while he had had her in the bathtub was really getting to him. He had wanted to connect with her so desperately but Miranda, his Baby Doll, was still buried underneath the Mindy personality and she hadn't even wanted to say that she loved him. It was purely just sex to her and that really really did bother him. Even when they normally just had sex to have it, it still meant more than it would to normal people. And the very fact that he had to beg to hear the three words he always craved to hear from her was tearing him apart on the inside.

And then of course, when he needed no more salt in his wounds, he had overheard the entire Amber/Cooper confrontation. Amber's side of it had pretty much been a kick to the balls followed by him being torn to shreds. He loved her to pieces and she hated him. He had thought they were on good ground once again but obviously he had been wrong. She hated him, just like he had hated his own parents. He was a parent whose own child hated him and she wasn't like Connor. She wasn't the type to just say things to get her way. When she said shit, she meant it.

And he knew that while some of it was indeed Caroline's fault since the rape and the beatings and all that had come from when she had been using his body as a human wrecking bowl, there was a lot of it that was his own fault. He knew he had fucked up on his own and there was nobody to blame but himself. He had hurt his Baby Doll by not saying that he loved her back before they had sex for the first time in his car, he had hurt her with trying to make her and Mark share him, he had hurt her by chasing after Mark after he married Michelle…that was all him and his own stupidity. And it didn't matter how sorry he was or how much he just wanted to take back every ounce of pain he had ever caused her. What he did couldn't be changed and it wasn't ever going to be forgotten. He as going to spend the rest of his life regretting it and hating himself over it.

He rubbed his eyes furiously as they started to get all watery and then began to play with Mindy's hair gently. "_Beauty queen of only eighteen. She had some trouble with herself. He was always there to help her, she always belonged to someone else._" He wasn't really one for singing because he really believed he couldn't (there had certainly been enough people jumping up and down to beg him to stop) but he knew that SHE thought he could and that was all that mattered.

"_I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door. I've had you so many times but somehow I want more._" That last part was really really true for him when it came to her. He was married to his Baby Doll and he had her so much but he always wanted more. He waned more and more and more because even being with her until the day they died wouldn't be enough. He would still want even more than that. "_I don't mind spending everyday, out on your corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile; ask her if she wants to stay while. And she will be loved, she will be loved._"

Mindy made a noise in her sleep before burying her face against his chest but he didn't let that stop him. "_Tap on my window knock on my door, I want to make you feel better. I know I tend to get so insecure. It doesn't matter anymore. It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along. My heart is full and my door's always open, you can come anytime you want…_"

…

Amber crept through the hall with James's knife once again in her hands, heading straight to James and Mindy's room. Outwardly she had calmed down from her outburst against Cooper earlier but inside she was not calmed down at all. She really was so sick and tired of stupid boys hurting her mother and she wasn't going to stand for it anymore. And if they thought she was going to stand for it, they were going to have another damn thing coming to them. She would make sure of that.

When she reached James and Mindy's door she reached up for the handle. If he was even looking at her mother the wrong way he was done. She carefully grabbed the handle and turned it as carefully as she could, opening the door just enough to peek in. She saw James and Mindy in bed together but they were both full clothed for once. James was cradling Mindy in his arms like she was a doll and she could have sworn she saw a couple tears going down his face as he continued to sing and be completely unaware of her presence.

"_I don't mind spending everyday, out on your corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay awhile…._"

That made Amber pause. He was singing her mother's favorite song to her. Yeah she seemed to be asleep and had no idea he was doing it but he was doing it anyway. Amber watched and listened for a little bit more before slipping away and closing the door behind her. James wasn't off the hook with her by any means but he had helped his case a little bit…for tonight anyway.


	78. Chapter 78

**jadeMK11: **Hopefully he can do that. He's definitely got a tall order with that and with everything else piled on top of it it's just a huge mess for him to try to straighten out. **Esha Napoleon**: 1) Oh yeah 2) She definitely can wield a knife like him, that's for sure. **cathy**: Thank you!

…

Entering Taylor's room where she was lying in bed watching Terms of Endearment with Thorn, Chelsea, Elizabeth, and Scarlett was Amber. She wasn't surprised by the movie that was on because it was one of Mindy's all-time favorites. Chick movies and heavy dramas tended to be the way to go where she was concerned, though for the most part her favorites were a man's worst nightmare. James couldn't sit through Sleepless in Seattle as much as he tried to for her, it was just asking too much. Terms of Endearment, as far as guys were concerned, wasn't TOO bad because Mindy's strange crush Jack Nicholson was the driving force of the film. She met him a few times and babbled through each meeting, which to him was sweet and adorable but she felt like an ass. Mindy Stratus bows to no one. It had to stay that way so people remained enamored by her.

"Hi" Amber finally spoke up while closing the door and climbing into Taylor's king-sized bed, which made the teenaged babysitter smile gently and pat a free space on the mattress.

"Come on up, we're only fifteen minutes in" she propped Elizabeth up better against her waif-like figure and adjusted Lammy so he wasn't blocking her line of vision.

Nodding wordlessly Amber obliged and snuggled next to Chelsea as hard as she could, meanwhile Chelsea just sat shoveling handfuls of chocolate-covered popcorn into her mouth. It was supposed to be a 'group snack', but the bin was now between Chelsea's legs as she laid splayed out and she wasn't going to move it anytime soon if she had anything to say about it. Normally the way she was eating would be found disgusting, but it was Chelsea who was saying anything to her? Of all the kids she was the only one who truly had that cute and chubby baby-face which made everything okay. Something about her was just too precious to ever be angry at even when she behaved like an ornery little shit.

"Chels…" Amber sighed in reference to the way she was eating, and Chelsea hugged Stickers close and gave her a glare.

"WHAT?" she wrinkled her nose and scowled while sticking more popcorn in her mouth and Amber had to shake her head.

"Forget it…"

"What's wrong, Miss Rose?" Taylor's lithe fingers sifted through the wavy blonde locks on Amber's head, and she could only shrug and keep her eyes trained to the screen, "Amber…"

"Yeah?" she responded robotically, hugging Chelsea even tighter and just staring at the screen which made Taylor frown more.

"Come on, Ambs…" Taylor sighed in exasperation and shook her head, "don't be a pain in my ass what's wrong?"

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Amber finally decided to give it a go, "Do you like Daddy?"

Aghast, Taylor's big blue eyes widened and she took a second to process that question before nodding subtly, "Yeah, I mean…I don't KNOW him that well, but he seems nice."

"Are you scared of him?"

"He scares the hell out of me, why?" Taylor chuckled while bouncing Elizabeth and making sure she had a good grasp of her bottle, "He's a very handsome guy though" grinning cheekily she touched Amber's cheek and shrugged, "just big and scary."

"I don't know what to think of him anymore" her eyes moved to Taylor and she shrugged, "He took my Mommy away, you know?"

"How so?" her thin lips pursed and she frowned, extending one of her arms for Amber to crawl between her and Thorn.

"He's all Mommy thinks about"

"Well…" her eyes dropped and she shrugged, "she loves him."

"My Mommy has MPD" her eyes dropped and her plump lips pouted, "You know what that is right?"

"It's like the Lord of the Rings guy, right?" she giggled and Amber nodded at her.

"It only comes back when someone makes her life hell…makes her hate herself so much she has to push the weak her away and make the strong her come out" her lips quivered and she nodded, "James messed her up so bad…I can't tell you what he's done to her but I hate him for it"

"Oh no Ambie, you can't-"

"I can" she replied coldly, "I have every right to. He never cared about Mommy but she loved him so much and he always made her sad, then he led her on and got her pregnant and stuff and didn't care, and then he left her for his boyfriend-"

"His BOYFRIEND…?" Taylor grimaced and shook her head, "What?"

"Yeah" Amber wrinkled her nose, "Disgusting. I know."

"I never knew he had a boyfriend…"

"He's from Las Vegas" Amber rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Speaks for itself, doesn't it?" her head shook and she sighed, "He's really weird. That's not the only weird thing he's done"

"Oh?" now of course being a teenager she was interested.

"He thinks incest is okay too" she nodded with wide eyes, "You know the really big one that's retarded?"

"I hate him" Scarlett replied automatically just upon hearing his name before zoning back in on the TV.

"Wow, um" Taylor double-took between Scarlett and Amber before nodding, "Yeah…?"

"He's an incest baby. That's why he's a retard. My sister is normal though at least" she pet Elizabeth's hair and the baby babbled at her obliviously.

"How close?" Taylor grimaced, already hating this conversation yet so interested she needed to hear more.

"You're gonna throw up" Amber smirked and shook her head with raised eyebrows, "it makes Mommy so pissed whenever anyone brings the name up, it's so funny"

"WHO?" Taylor gently nudged her with a hoarse giggle, "Come on, now you can't just hold information like this, Amber Rose! You gotta share with everyone if you're gonna-"

"Secrets, secrets are no fun unless you share with every-one!" Thorn said in a sing-song voice even though she knew the answer while hugging one arm around Oxa, and Taylor had to smile at her with a shake of the head. She had her mother's bluntness far and away.

"Twin sister" Amber wrinkled her nose and Taylor's jaw hit her chest she was so stunned and revolted, "Sick, I know."

"Are you joking?" Taylor snorted and let her mouth hang for a moment before grimacing, "EW! Ew! Ew! EW!" sticking her tongue out in a way that made all the girls laugh she thought about it before shaking her head and running a hand through her hair, "What the hell is wrong with him? Is" her eyes scanned about worriedly, "the sister around?"

"If she was there would be no Lizzie Bear and he wouldn't be with Mommy" Amber said coldly, "He'll tell you different, but that's the truth. The one he doesn't want to talk about because he knows he's a liar. He plays Mommy for a sap, its really sad actually. Now she's fighting back and I like it…she lets guys control her all the time and I hate it. She's too special for it."

"Does your mom know about…?" her teeth clenched and Amber nodded.

"Oh hell yeah she knows. It's all she knew. Try being with someone knowing you'll always be third best. She feels wonderful. When she met these guys they were supposed to make her better…" she shook her head with a scowl, "Meanwhile Cooper raped her"

"That I knew" Taylor nodded stiffly.

"James beat the shit out of her"

"I knew that too, everyone is talking about it"

"Took away her career, hurt her, made her cry, beat her, insulted her, and won't let her have another baby when there's a way she can."

"Question is…" Taylor light eyebrows rose, "Do you WANT her having another baby with someone like him…?"

"Who else?" she shrugged and shook her head, "He owns her. She can't do anything."

"True" she nodded with a hard swallow, "Does she know you feel this way?"

"Yes" Amber exhaled calmly before yawning, "She doesn't care what I think I'm entitled."

"You old dad was hell too"

"She hated him" Amber spat, "She wanted him dead in so many ways he loved to hit her."

"At least your new one's cute" Taylor chewed her cheek while shrugging, "Could have been mean AND ugly…?"

"Daddy's pretty" Scarlett added yet again out-of-turn, "I like pretty."

"We know" Taylor and Amber both groaned before exchanging glances and giggling.

"So…" curling her lips Taylor shrugged, "Is Mommy really planning on another baby?"

"She wants one" Amber nodded with a furrowed brow before frowning, "Lizzie Bear over here made her so sick she nearly died…" she took a moment before shrugging, "but I don't think it was Lizzie Bear"

"What do you think it was?" Taylor frowned when Amber sighed and pet Elizabeth's blonde head.

"James ignoring her" her voice dropped solemnly as did her eyes, "He didn't even WANT Lizzie Bear and he let Mommy know it. Now he's all over her because he has nothing else"

"Guys are usually stupid with that" Taylor gently defended James (if this could be called defense), "They don't care until they see the baby, then they're all batshit over the moon."

"Not always…" Amber replied crossly and Taylor had to nod, there were exceptions, "not every man decides to leave his girlfriend for his ugly loafy boyfriend while she's pregnant"

"True…"

"He just…" Amber curled her lips and shook her head before shrugging, "he was just different. Even my NASTY MEAN UGLY Daddy was nicer to Mommy when she was pregnant. He made her feel safe and protected her because he hated her but he loved us. James doesn't give a shit. He never did. I told him the truth once and you know what he did?"

"What?"

"I told him the truth that Connor was retarded and he screamed at me and told me to shut up and never ever talk about his son that way ever again"

"That's wrong" Taylor sighed and shook her head, "I doubt your mom took that well…"

"Oh no she gave him HELL for it!" Amber nodded happily, "She smacked him and everything you had to see it! It was amazing!"

"Yeah, she doesn't seem like the type to take something like that"

"Not at all" Amber shook her head and sniffled, "She lets James hurt her but she won't let him hurt us. She doesn't care who his favorites are, he's not allowed to hurt us."

"No he shouldn't be at all. He's not your dad he can't boss you."

"Oh I know…" Amber nodded surely, "I won't let him do it anymore either."

…

Mindy sat in her home recording studio getting the piano and guitar tracks for Hurricane out of the way so Cooper could come in with the vocals and the song would be good to go. She had the Kanye West verse for the mainstream version but that would be put in by the producer, not her. She knew how to do it and everything, but was too lazy and would rather have the big guys do it for her. Amber lingered in the doorway for a second knowing how pissed off her mother got when someone interrupted her, but she didn't count as someone; she was her baby. Taking a deep breath and watching her mother's wall of raven hair not do as much as move an inch as she played, Amber headed into the room and began braiding the thick straightened mess of hair. Immediately Mindy stopped playing and craned her neck to see Amber right there, and she smiled sweetly before patting the spot on the bench next to her.

"Hello my Ambieloo" she giggled and wrapped an arm around her when Amber smiled and rested her head against her mother's since they were almost the same height.

"Mommy…?" she began a bit meekly, and Mindy frowned before kissing her temple.

"What's wrong Ambie?"

"Do you still want a baby?" frowning she let Mindy tuck some lengthy strands of blonde behind her ear and Mindy swallowed hard.

"You know I would love to, but-"

"You can" Amber nodded while pulling a piece of printed paper from her pocket and showing her mother, "I wanted to show you this."

…

"I KNOW it is risky, Jamie but I do not care!" Mindy shouted while following him around the kitchen with Amber's piece of paper in her hand. James was trying to pretend he wasn't hearing what she was saying and it drove her insane.

"Baby Doll I don't want to hear this" he shook his head and turned around to grab her shoulders, "They DON'T know if it'll work and if your body rejects it and you die WHAT then? I lose you over another BABY?"

"I don't CARE!" she stamped her foot and ripped away from him, "They say it WORKS it does!"

"They've only done TRIAL RUNS for research, Baby Doll! Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS that is?"

"I'm Mindy fricken' Stratus I do not CARE what the rest of people do! I get what I want and I want another baby, James!"

Sighing he ran a hand over his face and tried to play with her hair, "But Baby Doll you could get hurt"

"WHY did you never tell me I could get a uterus transplant, James? WHY?" she stamped her foot and scowled, "I still have all my eggs I CAN have another baby if I get the transplant!"

"But it's so-"

"I don't CARE!" growling she whacked him in the arm and whimpered, "I WANT this, James! I want another baby I do! You did not even CARE when I was pregnant to Lizzie Bear what difference would another make?"

"What are you talking about?" he didn't notice they had an audience in the kitchen and neither did she, "Of COURSE I cared"

"Cared enough to leave me, I understand" she nodded with narrowed eyes, "You left me to die and don't even TRY to convince me otherwise I will know it was a lie. If Mark had taken you back I would have died before I ever had the baby and you wouldn't have cared at all. Everything would have just been perfect in your world because I don't fucking matter, I NEVER mattered James! You only married me because Mark said no and I was pregnant! That was the ONLY thing keeping you with me and"

"Baby Doll STOP IT!" he grabbed her arms and clenched his teeth, "PLEASE! Stop!"

"No!" shaking her head she slapped his arm, "We can do it RIGHT this time, James we can! Please…" now with the puppy face, "I WANT this! Please! Just please call the doctor and make the surgery please please please"

Looking at her with a long breath he picked up the phone and nodded silently.


	79. Chapter 79

**firewing pegasus:** In all fairness, incest is really considered wrong by pretty much all of society. Homosexuality is another story but incest? People living their lives is one thing but generally speaking, incest is a hugely frowned upon thing. Several generations of Lawsons have crossed that line and the best result has been Connor, who will never be able to get a real job or function like a normal adult. As for Amber, she's six and not really mature enough to put herself into someone else's shoes. Add in the resentment she's got going on and it's not the prettiest picture. As for Mindy and James….*shakes head* he's made plenty of mistakes with her (sharing himself between her and Mark, leaving her to go after Mark after Mark married Michelle, etc) but he is trying to hold things together and make them better. The thing is though, there are times that she needs to be told she's being ridiculous about things but he won't, because quite frankly, he was trained long ago to take the blame and crumble. He adores her and has the mindset of it's not her that ever does anything wrong, it's him. And the kids won't turn against their mother, Cooper still has feelings for her and Taylor got taken in by Mindy and doesn't totally know everything that's gone on. **cathy** and **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11: ***nods along* Yep, pretty much.

…

The call was made, the conversations were had and the date was set; Mindy was getting her way. She would be getting a uterus transplant so they could once again have another baby. Having that matter settled left him with a whole mess of emotions. On the one hand, the thought of another baby really was exciting. He knew that she really did want another one very badly and he did too of course. He had always wanted a large family and in all actuality, Connor and Elizabeth were his only biological children. And while he did consider all the babies his own and loved them beyond definition, having more babies was an idea that he liked. The only problem was, as much as he liked the idea, that wasn't enough to dispel any fears he had. The procedure itself worried him. It was going to be risky. There was no doubt in his mind about that. It wasn't like this was a standard run of the mill procedure people do all the time. They had only done trial runs for research. Of course he knew she didn't give a shit but he did. He gave a whole hell a lot of shit-of course, with the way things were going lately, his opinion on anything really didn't matter, so yeah…

Then of course, assuming that all did go well and the uterus was not rejected, Mindy was going to get sick once she was pregnant again. She was going to get horribly sick and he was already dreading that so much. Once it started there was really not a whole hell of a lot he could do for her which made him feel useless as hell. And of course he was beyond terrified of another placental abruption taking place. He had nearly lost Mindy and Elizabeth last time and he didn't want to go through that again.

He let out a long sigh and hugged the sleeping Elizabeth as tightly as he could without hurting her. He wanted to SAY a lot of this to someone but who could he turn to? Mindy wasn't listening to him, he and Cooper weren't speaking, Amber hated his guts, the other kids were too young to really understand, he didn't even know Taylor and Bret wasn't answering his phone. He was pretty much all on his own and it fucking sucked.

"Chelsea?" he said, reaching out and gently touching her blonde locks. Mindy was at her piano again and he had the feeling he wasn't welcomed so he took Elizabeth and Chelsea to watch Supernatural with him to try to make himself feel better. It wasn't working but now he was just too lazy to get up and do something else.

"What?" Chelsea asked, turning her attention to him.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes!" She tilted her head all the way back until he kissed her forehead and then she pointed to herself. "Me?"

"I love you," he assured her.

"Stickers?" She held up her red panda until James gave him a kiss too.

"Yes. I love Stickers too."

"Good Daddy." Chelsea turned her attention back to the show and James tried to do the same but when he heard someone come into the room his attention went to them instead. "Tarzan!"

"Hi Daddy," Tryg said. He climbed up on the couch and snuggled up to James. "Have I seen this episode?"

"Yeah," James replied. "I just popped in a disc without really looking at it. I've seen this episode at least a dozen times."

"We should watch a new one," Tryg said with a nod, dropping his head against James's body while he stared at the TV.

"We should," James agreed.

"Can I be a demon hunter when I grow up Daddy?"

"I think you should go to college first," James said wisely.

Tryg pouted his lips and thought about that. "Well after that. Will you be the Dean to my Sam?"

James had to laugh at that. "Yeah sure. That sounds great."

"Good." Tryg watched the show for a few minutes before looking back up at James. "You and Mommy are going to have another baby." News certainly did travel fast in this house. "She's excited. Are you excited?"

"Yeah," James said with a nod. "I'm excited."

Tryg's brow furrowed. "You don't look very excited."

James let out a long sigh. "I'm just worried Tarzan."

"About what?"

"The surgery Mommy's going to have to get done and her getting sick again after she gets pregnant. I don't want Mommy to be sick."

"Me neither," Tryg agreed. "But you are happy about another baby, right?"

"Yeah. I just have worries."

"Did you tell Mommy?"

"I don't think Mommy wants to hear them right now."

"Amber says you don't care about Mommy."

"That's not true at all," James said firmly. "I love Mommy very much."

"What about us?"

"Of course! I love ALL of you kids." James gently ruffled Tryg's hair.

"Even Amber?" Tryg pressed on.

"Yes," James said firmly. "Of course. Whatever she feels toward me now isn't going to change how I feel about her."

Tryg curled his lip and slowly shook his head. "I don't think she would believe that Daddy. She really hates you now. You should hear the stuff she says about you now."

James winced, remembering all the shit she had screamed at Cooper while he had been trying to take care of a bloody Mindy in the bathroom. "I have…"

"She says you were never possessed by Grandma. You did all that bad stuff on purpose."

"I didn't!" James said immediately, shaking his head in denial. "Fuck, I'd fucking blow my brains out before doing ANY of that shit to you guys on my own accord."

"She wouldn't believe that either," Tryg said with a shrug. "But I believe you Daddy. I saw you when you hurt Oxa and Chelsea and Thorn. Your eyes were all scary and mean. At first I thought you were abducted by aliens like Connor said but then I saw when Sam was possessed by a demon and got scary too and Dean had to save him. The demon got you good Daddy."

"She did," James agreed, feeling at least somewhat relieved that Tryg believed him (or at least seemed to anyway). "She really did."

"Amber don't watch this show so she don't know," Tryg said firmly. "But I know. That's why I'm gonna be a demon hunter." He nodded along to his own musings before giving James another serious look. "I heard her talking to Taylor about you and Connor's mommy."

James stiffened uncomfortably. Oh fucking hell, did this never fucking end? "She did huh?"

Tryg nodded dutifully. "I heard her Daddy, I did. She told Taylor Connor's mommy is your twin sister and that's why he's retarded. Taylor said that was gross."

"The diseases she probably has are gross," James muttered under his breath without really meaning to. He knew why she had said gross and that wasn't the problem because that was a reaction he was used to. It was just that on top of everything else being thrown on him, he did not feel like being judged by an ex-whore that didn't know him and vice versa.

Tryg frowned. "Taylor's sick?" he said in confusion.

Fuck. He had said that just a tad too loud. "Nothing," he said, deciding not to even go there right now. "Just forget I said anything, okay Tarzan?"

"Okay Daddy," Tryg agreed. He had more important things to discuss anyway. "Daddy, can I ask you something?"

James nodded, even though he already had a feeling that he wasn't going to like this question.

"Why did you sleep with your sister?"

Yikes. Now how did you explain THAT one to anyone, especially a small child. "There were um…circumstances," James stammered out, not really wanting to get into the full story if he could help it.

"Mommy says you're not supposed to love your siblings like that," Tryg said wisely. "It's not natural."

"It's not supposed to be," James admitted. "But there were reasons for why things went down and while I acknowledge now that it shouldn't have happened the way it did, I don't regret it. It lead me to having Connor I can't regret it."

"The girls don't like Connor," Tryg said wisely. "And I don't like that he don't like Mommy."

James let out a long sigh. He wasn't even going to go there. "Tarzan-"

"Ssshhhhh!" Chelsea finally scolded. She turned to give him and Tryg an irritated look. "Stickers sleeping."

"Oh," James said in understanding while Tryg snickered. "Sorry. We'll be quiet."

Chelsea nodded and they watched the show a few minutes in silence. Then the phone rang and James reached over and grabbed it. "Hello?" he said, keeping his voice down so he wouldn't wake up Elizabeth or Stickers.

"See? I called him! Can I hang up now?" Connor asked the person he was with.

"No!" Tyson snapped. "Good grief, just talk to him for a little bit. It won't kill you."

"Connor," James said sitting up a bit and trying to get his attention so he could coax him into a conversation before he decided to just hang up. "Are you having fun up there? Are they taking good care of you?"

"Yeah," Connor replied. "Snoopy and Spike and me went polar bear hunting with Nattie."

"Oh really? How did that go?"

"We didn't find any. But I found a moose and I wanted to bring it home but Nattie said no." Connor didn't even sound bothered that he had been told no. James was actually kind of jealous that she could do that and not hear a complaint while whenever he tried to do it, he got told that he was hated and he was a bad daddy and yadda yadda yadda. "But I'm gonna get me a moose. You just wait and see. I'm bringing a moose home and I'm gonna name him…well I don't know yet. I haven't decided."

"And where do you think you're going to put that moose?" James asked, raising his eyebrow in amusement.

"The backyard," Connor replied. "Imma build him a moose house."

"I don't think a moose will like it here in the desert," James said gently. "Its too hot. And Oxa will be making dinner out of it if you bring it home. I have a hard enough time keeping her from eating those damn birds your mother has in the backyard I DON'T want to constantly look after a moose."

Connor sighed loudly. "Daddy you're silly. My mommy can't have birds in the backyard when she's DEAD!"

James stiffened and shook his head. "Connor-"

"Oooh Nattie's back! That means the ice cream is here!"

"Connor-"

_Click_. Connor's phone skills were really really not that good to begin with but if someone around him had a treat that he liked? Yeah, they got a million times worse. James hung up the phone and set it on the table before looking at Tryg. "You wanna make sundaes later?" He was just like Connor; ice cream somehow made everything better when the shit was all falling apart, if only for a little while.

Tryg quickly nodded. "Yeah! I want lots and lots of chocolate on mine Daddy!"

"Okay," James agreed happily. "Chocolate sundaes it is."


	80. Chapter 80

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: No she don't. She didn't see Caroline during that entire thing so all she has is being told that she was the one in James's body and hurting her mother and obviously she stopped believing that. And I wouldn't either. Connor would bring home an entire zoo if he could. **NeroAnne**: Oh senior year…a couple years ago I was where you are so I feel ya. Glad you've gotten caught up though : ) **cathy**: Yes they are and thank you.

…

"Baby Doll PLEASE! That wasn't me! That wasn't fucking me!" James shouted while trailing behind Mindy in the kitchen late that night. All the kids were sitting around on top of the staircase upstairs listening to Mommy and Daddy go at it…again.

"Does it matter?" Mindy shrugged nastily and scowled, "It still happened. I'm covered in scars."

"I know, Baby Doll…" he nodded while running a hand over his face, "I fucking know that. I fucking had to watch as SHE fucking gave them to you."

"Save the supernatural bullshit" she waved him off with a roll of her eyes, "NO COURT is going to believe that when I file for divorce."

All the color drained from his face before she even got to finish the sentence, "Baby Doll PLEASE!"

"What?" she shrugged and ran a hand through her hair, "What do you WANT from me anymore, James? What MORE can I give you that I did not already?"

Frantically he shook his head, "Just tell me what to do! Just tell me what you want me to do!"

"I don't want you to do anything, James. That's what you've never understood. I'm not giving you an ultimatum so I'm making this easy for you."

Yet again he shook his head, "Okay fine don't make this easy for me. Just please please PLEASE don't fucking leave me!"

"What difference will it make?" she shrugged, "You have your Connor, your daughter—unless you want her to go too, and you'll have no problem finding someone else knowing you…I hear Jeffrey Nero is single these days and Mark will be looking to cheat on Michelle soon"

"I DON'T want Jeff or Mark or anyone else! I want YOU!"

"If you want me you want my kids. Clearly you don't. They have to live in Connor's fucking shadow and let him say and do whatever he wants to them. I won't stand for it anymore."

"I DO want your children. I LOVE your children. I've FUCKED up with Connor I fucking KNOW that. You shouldn't have to stand for the shit he does and I'll find a way to make him change. I'll fucking find a way to do it."

She growled, "No you won't. You're just making empty fucking promises to keep me in the door and I am DONE. When the time comes to do something you'll have some BULLSHIT excuse and I am DONE James Paul Lawson."

"It's NOT an empty fucking promise! It's NOT! I'll DO it, Miranda. I'll fucking do whatever the fuck it is that needs to be done."

"And I don't believe you. You've never done a damn thing when it comes to him and I won't make you choose your son over me. So I'll leave and you can carry on with your life."

"NO! God damn it Miranda! I don't want you to leave! I NEED you HERE with ME!"

"For WHAT?" she snorted, "Entertainment?"

"NO!" he shook his head, "Because I LOVE you! Because there's fucking NO LIFE for me outside of you! I know I'm a fucking fuck up and need to change" he stretched his arms out for her, "Fucking BEAT the sense into my brain if you want! Fucking BEAT me for all the times I've fucked up and hurt you! JUST STAY!"

She now began to cry, "I love you…" looking him over she had to shake her head, "but I can't."

"Baby Doll please…" he began crying too, getting down on his knees and hugging her waist, "Please please PLEASE don't leave me. If you wanna make me miserable then PLEASE by all means do it! I DESERVE it for not being good enough for you but PLEASE don't leave me!"

Sneering she pushed him off of her; "You'll be FINE. It's not like you're gonna die or anything. I'M the one going to the nut house. YOU will be fine, get someone else."

"NO! HOW MANY MORE FUCKING TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?" he shook his head, "I want YOU and NOBODY ELSE!"

"Of course you do in fact, you're so 'mentally bonded' to other people you can go right back to them and make you feel better. OR maybe your guardian angel who constantly victimizes herself will swoop in and 'save' you from the evil schizophrenic bitch!"

"I don't want HIM or HER! I fucking don't! He and I are THROUGH and SHE is dead! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD FUCKING DEAD!"

"Yet you are still in love with her DON'T EVEN LIE TO ME!"

He threw his hands up in the air, "I'm not fucking lying when I say I'm NOT in fucking love with her! I stopped being IN LOVE with her a long time ago! She's been dead for TWENTY FUCKING YEARS. The being in love with her part has faded the fuck away."

"That's why you have a picture of her in your wallet, right James? Because it's been twenty years and you're 'over' it. That's why there's a million pictures of her hanging around because you're 'over' her. And all you did when you met me was talk about her, and all I heard was how I'll never take her place for you, and nobody can move her from your heart and all that bullshit because you're OVER her!"

Ripping out his wallet he emptied it all over the place right in front of her, "THAT picture? You wanna talk about that picture, Baby Doll? Look look—it's GONE! It's been out of my wallet way before today! The other pictures bother you? They'll fucking go away. And I know I fucking talked about her when I met you and you fucking heard all other kinds of shit and for that I apologize. I fucking fucking apologize. Hell, I apologize for being a sick fuck that fucked his own sister. I apologize for spawning a child that makes you miserable. I can only apologize for that because I can't FIX either of those things. They happened in the past and I CAN'T take them back"

"That's why you can't step in that house, right? Because you don't CARE! If I left you wouldn't give a fucking shit! You'd be sad for a WEEK! MAYBE!"

"If you really think that…" he slowly shook his head, "then you really just don't fucking know me."

"I guess I don't" she shrugged, "I've only gathered enough experience with you to draw that conclusion because you did not even have the decency to properly reject me all those times that you wanted to"

He opened his mouth to answer that but stopped once he heard Elizabeth crying in the living room, "Fuck!"

"FUCK! YOU! YOU WOULDN'T EVEN FUCKING BE HERE IF MARK DIDN'T DROP YOUR ASS! YOU OULD HAVE LEFT ME FOREVER! HAPPILY!"

He shook his head as Elizabeth began crying even louder from the other room, "We won't ever fucking know for sure because he DID drop my ass" he left to calm Elizabeth, but she was right on his heels as he left the room bawling her eyes out.

"I know. And I can't fucking do it anymore."

"You think that stupid decision I made doesn't haunt me?" he lifted the baby, "It does. It haunts me all the fucking time" he lifted one of his pant legs to show her pretty serious looking cuts running down the back of his calf, "I wanted to do this to my wrist the other night when I couldn't stop fucking thinking about it but I was holding Lizzie Bear and couldn't."

She stared at them coldly, "Why would you do that?"

He dropped his pant leg down, "Because I fucking hate myself."

"Sorry I make you that miserable. I would try to be 'the light' for you but I just can't fucking do that. I'll never be your little 'light' might as well save you the fucking heartache."

"I never asked you to be 'the light'! I never fucking asked you to be her. And while a lot of things do revolve around you, my hatred for myself existed before you were even ALIVE!"

She snorted, "What the fuck is there to hate about you? You're GORGEOUS, can have anyone you want, you're funny, smart, well-off, a little quirky but people like that…shut the FUCK up don't talk to me about hating yourself!"

"Oh yeah, because appealing to people should automatically mean I should just fucking like myself" he snorted, "The rest of the world don't fucking matter when all I seem to be good at is either hurting or disappointing the only people I actually do give a shit about. Caroline was right I should have just done everyone a favor and dropped dead a long fucking time ago."

"Oh PLEASE James! You have ALWAYS had someone up your ass and they would have lost their little minds if something happened to you. Stop with the bullshit she's DEAD and can't fucking hurt you anymore, fuck 'mental scarring' you ALWAYS had someone! ALWAYS!"

Keeping his mouth firmly shut he bounced crying Elizabeth gently.

"Clearly we don't work, James. We made a MISTAKE, okay? I'll go away and you can go back to being happy"

He glared, "We didn't make a fucking mistake. I've made a fuck of a lot of mistakes in my life but this marriage wasn't one of them."

"The only thing that kept you with me is sitting in your arm right now. You woulda dropped me like a bad habit if I did not force you to knock me up with her"

He snorted, "You didn't fucking force me to do that. If I hadn't wanted to, it wouldn't have happened"

"You sure as hell didn't want her"

"Bull-fucking-shit"

"Mhm. I'm sure. That's why you left us, right? That's why I was a 'thing' to you"

He shook his head, "'Thing' was a bad choice of words I didn't know what to fucking call what was developing between us and I fucking said shit I shouldn't have."

Mindy shook her head, "If you didn't want me why the FUCK would you lead me on?"

"I DID want you! I fucking did want you but I was a fucking idiot who didn't know what the fuck I was doing!"

"I just…" running her fingers through her hair she shrugged, "I don't know what to do."

"I don't either. I want to know. I want to know so fucking badly because I love you and don't want to lose you"

"You'll be fine. I'll come back when I'm dead in a month and see you with someone else"

He shook his head, "I don't want to go through that argument again with you. You're the only person I want to spend my life with"

"And I want to die, so you tell me."

"You want to die? You want to fucking die? That's fucking bullshit. What is dying going to accomplish? Forget about how that shit would tear me apart because there's six people in this family that are more important than the both of us combined. What about Amber? And Thorn and Scarlett? And Tryg, Chelsea, and Elizabeth?"

"FUCK James what kind of a mother am I? I can't even brush my own HAIR they don't need that!"

"They don't fucking care about that. You're their MOTHER. They LOVE you! They ADORE you! What would you say to them if they heard you talking like that and got scared and begged you not to die? What would you say? That they would be better off? That they would forget about you in a month? Because that would be BULLSHIT! COMPLETE AND TOTAL FUCKING BULLSHIT! Elizabeth is a baby but she LOVES you! You're the only person besides me that Chelsea even gives a SHIT about. She LOVES you! Tryg and Thorn and Scarlett are young but don't think for a second that they would forget about you like they did Crispy. And what about Amber? Do you have any idea what you dying would do to her? I shudder to even think about it"

Elizabeth whimpered and waved her fists around in James's arm, "Mum mum mum!"

Mindy shook her head and lifted Elizabeth from James, "I don't CARE I never wanted them anyway I care about YOU and YOU don't care you're all I care about!"

"I care! I fucking care so fucking much! When I wake up, I think about YOU! All day every day I think about YOU! When I go to bed I think about YOU! You're in my fucking dreams you're such a fucking part of me! You're the only part of me that fucking matters"

"But you love Connor more"

"I do NOT. Yes I love him very much but my love for him and my love for you are apples and oranges because they're not the same. I'm IN LOVE with you. Madly fucking over the moon completely batshit insane in love with you. I know he's treated you and the babies like crap and that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable and its fucking going to change. He's not a baby he HAS to grow up. I'll get him on medication to level out his moods and tone down the hyperness, I'll get him in fucking therapy to further help him…this is shit I should have done years ago but didn't because I was an idiot. A FUCKING idiot."

"You were" she nodded, "A huge selfish fucking idiot."

"I know. I fucking know that and I was too much of a coward to admit it to myself. I know I'm responsible for the way Connor is. I know that. I made him and Cooper so unbelievably dependent on me and I shouldn't have. And while Cooper can go straight to fucking hell I want to try to fix what I did wrong with Connor. For you, for the kids, for his own good…I gotta fucking be a man. A man fucking worthy enough to be a good husband and a good father"

She began to cry hysterically while staring at him in adulation, "I love you, James!"

"I love you, Miranda. So fucking much. I want to be the man you deserve. I can't fucking rest until I do that."

"I don't deserve shit" she shook her head, "I love you."

"You do though, you deserve so much" he hugged and kissed her.

Kissing him back she nestled against his chest and frowned, "I deserve nothing"

"Ssssh you do" he held her tighter, "You do my darling Baby Doll."

Elizabeth stared at them both before shouting, "Ba-by!"

Mindy giggled and kissed her forehead, "Yes, baby! Soon you get to play with a REAL one!"

James grinned, "You hear that, Lizzie? You're going to be a big sister!"

"Baby!" she shouted again before nomming on her own fingers so Mindy handed her Lammy to stop that, smiling and petting her face before slinking away leaving James by himself.

…

Things were quiet for a while. Mindy closed the door to her and James's bedroom and sniffled while shakily tucking a long section of raven hair behind her ear and opening a drawer to pull a small handgun out of it. She stared at it for a while, she didn't have a gun license but Kane did. He owned all sorts of them and she brought this one with her from one of their houses. With a cough she traced the barrel before cocking her head with her back to the door and sticking it in her mouth just as the door was slowly opening.

"Mommy?" Amber peeked inside before entering and Mindy started to silently cry, fastening her fingers over the trigger when Amber SHIRKED and startled her mother in the process of blowing her brains out.

"MOMMY?" like a wildcat she leaped over the bed and knocked her mother's hand as it pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight up and through the wall making the both of them scream and the gun was dropped. Amber tackled her tiny mother to the bed and held her down as she kicked and screamed to be released to grab the gun, tears streaming down Amber's face while contemplating what her mother was going to do. How fucking miserable did she really have to be to be driven to that.


	81. Chapter 81

**Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: I think "holy shit" pretty much says it all. And thank you.

…

The sound of a gunshot scared the fuck out of James. "What the FUCK was that?" he yelled as Elizabeth began to cry she was so startled. He jumped up to his feet and made a beeline for the stairs, nearly crashing into Taylor, who was also running to see what was going on. "Take her," he ordered, handing Elizabeth off to her so he could sprint up the stairs two at a time. "Miranda?" he yelled, just having this horrible feeling that it had something to do with her. "MIRANDA!" He went straight to his and Mindy's bedroom, bursting right in and his jaw dropping as he saw Amber pinning a struggling and screaming and crying Mindy down on the bed, a gun on the floor and a bullet hole in the wall. "What the FUCK?" He was yelling because this sight truly scared him and he couldn't even begin to control the volume of his voice.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Amber screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming her traumatized face. "YOU DID THIS YOU DID IT YOU-" She was so into the yelling that she didn't realize she was losing control of Mindy until it was too late. She was shoved off the bed and the back of her head bounced off the floor as Mindy lunged for the gun yet again. She never even got her hands on it though. James had always been considered quick for a guy his size but today he moved faster than he ever had in his life. He snaked one arm around her waist and picked her up off the ground so he could grab the gun with his other hand and keep it out of her reach.

"NOOOO!" Mindy screeched, kicking and hitting him with all her might in her desperate attempts to get to the gun. "NO NO NO NO!"

"Baby Doll stop!" he pleaded desperately, struggling to unload the gun with just one hand. He would have had an easier time doing it if he wasn't struggling just to hold on to her. As it was, she was really REALLY trying to tear the fuck away from him. She had become just completely unhinged and he had to ignore how much it was scaring him to make it stop. "Please please st-FUCK!" Mindy had sunk her teeth into his arm and was fucking biting him as hard as she could. The pain was enough to make his eyes water but he gritted his teeth and dealt with it as best as he could. It wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter.

"MOMMY!" Amber shrieked, clutching the back of her head as she got back up to her feet.

"What is going on?" Taylor asked from the hallway. She, Cooper and the kids were all watching from the hallway, the twins crying and the others just watching with wide eyes.

"TAKE this!" James ordered, holding out the gun. "Get RID of it and get AMBER and make sure she's alright!" The six year old had hit her head pretty hard on the floor and he would have checked to see if she had a bump or anything already if he hadn't been trying to keep a hold of Mindy. The out of control schizophrenic had to come first so she didn't hurt herself or anyone else.

Because Taylor had sense, she immediately grabbed the gun and shoved Cooper towards Amber before running off to dispose of the weapon. Cooper of course, didn't have the same kind of sense and he tried to approach Mindy, who was sucking up the blood she was drawing on James's arm and then biting down so she could get even more.

"Mom?" he said in a shaky voice. "Mommy?"

Mindy let go of the hold she had on James's arm and snarled at Cooper, which made him jump back in fright. "WOULD YOU JUST FUCKING DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD?" James bellowed, wrapping both arms around Mindy now to try to keep a hold of her. This was ridiculous. This was going to be the only time he was going to be trusted with the kids again and THAT was out of bare necessity until Taylor got rid of the gun and what did he do? Did he jump at the chance to maybe prove his worth? No. He fucking directed his attention to Mindy. If James would have had the chance he would have smacked him in the face.

"NO!" Amber protested as Cooper finally obeyed and lifted her up so he could carry her out of the room. "Let me go!" She was so determined to stay with her mother that she started fighting Cooper with every ounce of strength that she had. Cooper grunted in pain because she got him good a couple of times but he managed to keep a hold of her and got her out, shutting the door behind him, leaving Mindy and James all alone.

Mindy shrieked loud enough to make James's ears ring and broke free from his grasp so she could run full steam ahead at the door. She threw herself against it and when it didn't break open she began to scratch at it with her nails, literally trying to claw her way through it.

"Baby Doll stop!" James pleaded. He tried to pull her back when BAM! She clocked him right in the face and shoved him back as much as she could. In her state of being unglued she was unbelievably strong and he quite literally hadn't been hit that hard since the last time Caroline had struck him. "Baby Doll!" He managed to grab her once again, putting her into a bear hug before backing up to the bed and sitting down, wrapping his legs around hers in attempt to keep her from kicking. "Baby Doll ssshhh. Ssshh ssshh sshhh." He began kissing the side of her head frantically, doing his best to get her to calm back down. He didn't even care about the possibility of her turning her head and biting him in the face. As long as she calmed back down and didn't succeed in killing herself he would be fine. "I love you Baby Doll. I love you so much." He kept kissing her, noticing that her struggling was dying down a bit and wanting it to keep doing so. "It's going to be okay Baby Doll I'm gonna find a way to make it okay I promise." He kissed her some more and began rocking her gently. "It's going to be okay. Please just calm down for me. I love you Baby Doll you're so special to me. So so special."

Everything he was saying was just coming out because he didn't know what else he could really do. It seemed to be working though; the more he cooed her, the more she calmed down. Her face was going blank and her eyes looked just completely flat now but at least she was not fighting to break away and chase down that gun. That was a start anyway. "I love you," he said again, not about to stop now until he was much more sure she would stay calm. "I love you so much Baby Doll I love you I love you I love you…"

…

"Leave me alone!" Amber said, slapping Cooper's hand away and giving him a dirty look. Taylor had unloaded the gun and discarded it just like she had been told and now she was trying to do her best to comfort the kids while Cooper attempted to check Amber's head to see if she had a bump or anything. Only problem with that though was that she was being as uncooperative as she could possibly be. "I'm FINE!"

"You keep holding on to your head though," Cooper pointed out, trying to keep his temper in check even though he just kept getting hit over and over again. He didn't want to be out here getting beat up by a six year old. He wanted to go back to try to help Mindy but there was no way in hell James was going to let him back in there. And on top of knowing that, even though he was really wanting to go in there to help her, he was actually pretty freaked out at the idea of going in there with an unhinged Mindy. He hadn't actually ever seen her like THAT before ever and he certainly did not ever want to see it again. "I think-"

"NOBODY cares what you think," Amber informed him. She got up to her feet and pushed him away with as much force as she could. "I want my mommy!"

"I want Mommy too," Tryg chimed in.

Taylor gave them all a sympathetic look and smoothed Tryg's hair down. "I know you guys want her, she said gently. "But right now isn't the best-"

"But she's all alone with James!" Amber growled. "HE'S part of the problem!"

Cooper slowly nodded along. "She-"

"SHUT UP!" Amber yelled at him. "YOU'RE just as bad!"

Taylor shook her head at the look on Cooper's face before trying to handle Amber as gentle as possible. "I know you're very very angry with him," she said with a nod. "And I don't blame you for that at all. In fact you have a right to it. But I saw your mother back in there and I don't think it's a good idea for you-"

"She tried to shoot herself," Amber said, nodding her head as she did so. "I caught her and she pulled the trigger but I knocked her arm away so she shot the wall and not herself. She's only alive because of ME and you want to know why she tried to die? Because of stupid boys like James and Cooper!"

Scarlett shook her head, startling them all because nobody had noticed she had slipped out of the room. "Mommy's not screaming anymore," she informed them. "I listened in through the door. Daddy's talking to her like he does Lizzie Bear when she cries and Mommy's not yelling no more."

Amber made a face. "Did you open the door to see if she was okay?" she asked impatiently.

"No…" Scarlett said, taking a step back because of the look on her older sister's face. "I didn't want to scare her and make her go off again."

"But how do you KNOW she's okay then?" Amber asked angrily. "Huh? How do you KNOW he didn't hurt her?"

"Well he's not possessed by the demon anymore," Tryg said with a nod. "The demon made him do bad things-"

"Are you KIDDING me?" Amber asked, turning her attention to Tryg. "You BELIEVE that crap?"

Tryg frowned. "I watch Supernatural I KNOW what I'm talking about."

Amber stared at him in disbelief and annoyance before throwing up her hands and storming out of the room. Tryg watched her go while frowning even more and then he looked at Taylor for vindication.

"I DO watch Supernatural. I watch it all the time with Daddy. You didn't see his eyes when he went bad for awhile they weren't his. He really was possessed and now after I graduate college I'm going to become a demon hunter. I'll be Sam and Daddy will be Dean and we'll get the bad monsters and make them go away. You'll see."

Taylor only sighed and pulled Tryg into her arms. "Oh Tryggy…" She hugged him tightly and shook her head. "Tryggy Tryggy Tryggy…a demon hunter? I don't think that's a very good idea. You could get hurt."

"No I won't. I'll be a good demon hunter. I'll kill lots and lots of demons and never get hurt. You just wait and see, I'll prove it to you when I get big like Daddy."

….

While the gun had been gotten rid of, that wasn't enough to put James at ease. Every sharp object, any and all kinds of medication, the sheets and blankets, clothes, shoelaces-anything that could remotely aid a suicide attempt was hidden on his orders. He was not going to take any chances. As it was now, he was sitting on the bed holding her while Amber sat not too far away from him, watching him with narrowed eyes. Mindy was still quiet, just sitting limply in his arms while staring at the wall vacantly. The silence between James and Amber was loud and uncomfortable; he could literally feel her anger at him rolling off of her in waves. It wasn't sitting well with him but he really didn't know what the hell he could do to make it better, given the fact that she seemed to have no interest in letting him try.

"How's your head?" he finally asked. "Does it hurt?" He knew he was taking a risk by asking that question but he was going ahead and doing it anyway. Even if she refused to tell him he had to ask. He cared too much to just keep being silent.

Like he expected, she looked ready to get up out of her spot and decapitate him for even daring to speak to him. "Don't pretend like you care," she said coldly. "You're not fooling me."

He fought the urge to flinch at her tone and he succeeded for the most part. "I'm not trying to fool you," he said gently. "I know better than that."

Her only answer to that was a cold glare. He sighed softly in defeat (for now anyway) and looked down at Mindy, catching sight of the bite mark she had given him earlier in the process. It really was quite nasty and he needed to do something about it but for now he was just going to leave it alone. "I love you," he told Mindy, kissing her and ignoring the snort of disbelief that came from Amber. "I love you Baby Doll." He smoothed her hair down and kissed her again. She wasn't really responding to him but he could see a slight recognition in her eyes and she wasn't pushing him away. It wasn't much but it was at least something-and he was willing to take anything he could get at this point.

…

"Home sweet home," Mark said under his breath without realizing he was saying it. He had just pulled up in front of James's house and he was just staring at it, not making any move to get out of the car just yet. He had been thinking the entire way to Vegas as to why he was really bothering to do this. Helping with the Caroline situation had been one thing but this was something else all together. He had TOLD James what he had been getting into with this relationship; both he and Glen had but James being James, he didn't listen.

Mark opened his car door and stepped out, preparing himself because he knew he was going to be walking into the lion's den. Despite the fact that James had asked him to come up to help him with the Mindy/Miranda situation, there was no way he was going to be welcomed with open arms. The kids had to hate him for what he had done to their mother in the past and Cooper was surely going to blow his top when he saw him but he found himself really really not giving a damn about that. No, he was much more interested in seeing James again. While he was content for the most part with his life with Michelle, he really wasn't _happy_. He didn't actually love her so he couldn't be happy with her.

The front door was locked and he knocked, quickly growing impatient when nobody answered the door. "Ah fuck it," he said under his breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out, locating the one to the house and using it to let himself in. After he and James had broken up it was forgotten that he still had a key to the house. _It's probably going to be remembered now,_ he thought as he shut the door behind. _But oh well._ He took a couple of steps forward, wondering where to start his search for James when an all too familiar voice stopped him.

"What the HELL are you doing here?"

Mark glanced at the staircase and saw that Cooper was coming down them, looking at him quite angrily. "Wow you look like shit," he commented, not only being rude but being brutally honest. Cooper definitely looked like hell. "What the hell happened?"

Cooper scowled and refused to answer that question. "I said what the HELL are you doing here?"

"Car's making a funny noise and I need Lawson's tools," Mark answered. It was a flat out lie but he felt no problems telling it. If James hadn't warned him he was coming that wasn't his problem. That would just be something James would have to deal with.

Cooper's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Bullshit," he called immediately. "Bullshit bullshit bullshit. I don't fucking believe you."

"Well that would be great except this isn't ABOUT what you believe," Mark replied bluntly. "So you can either deal with me being here or…well I don't actually fucking care." He smirked at the look on Cooper's face and then headed towards James's office to see if he was there. He was walking on glass in this situation but that was okay with him. At least it made life a lot more interesting.


	82. Chapter 82

**jadeMK11: **Oh yeah and that hell is not what's needed right now at all. Given this suicide attempt it's just bad, bad timing. And yeah, it's horrible for Amber to see her mother like that. No child needs to see anything like that. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **cathy**: You'll be finding out right now : )

…

"Where ya goin', honey?" Taylor giggled while following Chelsea around the ground floor while holding Elizabeth and Lammy in her arms, "Huh? Where you runnin' off to?"

Chelsea said nothing but hugged Stickers closer and stuck her thumb in her mouth while running through the kitchen downstairs towards the snack cabinet…where else would she go. Mindy loved chubby babies so Taylor never really curbed what Chelsea ate especially because all of the older kids Mindy had were twigs. She figured Chelsea's baby fat would just melt off like it did for everyone else.

…

Mark perused through James's office looking for just about anything he could find in there to try and figure him out these days. The drawer of pictures still existed much to his surprise; he was stunned the psychotic bitch didn't burn them all because pictures from when James was happy were in there.

In general James's office was exactly the same as he remembered it, nothing had really moved from its place and nothing new had been added. Granted no one ever had a reason to go in there so it should have stayed this way. It wasn't a playroom for little kids and Mindy had absolutely no legitimate reason to be poking her surgically altered nose in here.

…

"Chelsea honey, PLEASE don't run with food in your mouth!" Taylor worriedly followed Chelsea into the den where she went to turn on the TV but had a handful of marshmallows in her hand and couldn't get the remote, "Here…" smiling fondly and bumping Elizabeth up on her hip, Taylor went to press a button on the remote when she caught the door to Mr. Lawson's (she was too terrified to call him anything else) office closed shut…she didn't remember anyone going in there and Mr. Lawson was upstairs with Mindy.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at the door and hugged Taylor's neck, making her makeshift older sister/babysitter frown and furrow her brow while staring at the doorway and clutching the baby closer to her chest.

"Did you see anyone go in there, Lizzie Bear?" she frowned and ran a hand along Chelsea's blonde head before slowly tiptoeing towards the door and trying to figure out why anyone would be in Mr. Lawson's office with the door closed without him in it, "Hello?"

…

Mark froze. Who the hell was THAT? That was no voice he recognized by any definition and knew there were a limited number of women in the Lawson household. It certainly wasn't Mindy's twangy Canadian accent that was for shit sure, and Amber didn't speak like she came from the west. All Mindy's kids had absolutely no accent at all because they never lived in an area long enough to develop anything regional.

…

Confused by the lack-of answer Taylor tried louder, "Hello?" a knock on the door, "Who's in there? Mr. Lawson?"

…

Mr. Lawson? What was this, summer camp?

…

Chelsea's attention was caught and with a pout she stamped on over to the door with Stickers in her arms and kicked it.

"OH god, Chels no!" Taylor giggled nervously and shook her head, "It's alright, hun I'm-"

The toddler reached up and gripped the handle before pulling it open and stamping right in so the issue of what was keeping Taylor's attention away from her could be solved. Once she headed in though and caught none other than Mark just chilling in there her brow furrowed and her head cocked to the side confusedly.

"Chelsea?" pushing the door open herself Taylor took one look at Mark and screamed her head off, nearly dropping a horrified Elizabeth in the process. She'd never seen this man either and he certainly wasn't Daddy. Mark's eyes widened too and he just had to ask.

"Who the hell are YOU?"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Taylor shrieked and held a hand over her mouth and Elizabeth started crying loudly while Chelsea just looked on with a scowl before kicking Mark in the shin and wrinkling her nose.

"Go. AWAY!" Chelsea snapped with a stamp of her foot, "That's…" she pointed to the computer and chair while hugging Stickers and nodded, "DADDY'S office! MY Daddy!"

"G-GET OUT!" Taylor screamed louder and that caught Cooper's attention from across the house, "GET OUT!"

A hand was placed on her shoulder and with a gasp Taylor snapped her head to the right to see Cooper standing behind her with his eyes fixed on Mark in James's office.

"Who the hell are YOU?" Mark asked again and just as Taylor scowled to open her mouth, Cooper interjected to help her out.

"SHE is technically our adopted sister and YOU are not fucking welcome to waltz into Dad's office!" Cooper barked even though Mark disregarded that second part of the sentence and started laughing.

"Oh yeah?" eyeballing the very gaunt blonde he had to shake his head with a snort, "And do let me guess whose bright idea THAT was…?"

"Stop" Cooper growled and gently eased Taylor back a step so incase he had to go in there and kick Mark's ass he had full access to the room, "Just get the hell out of here before you cause even more problems for us"

"If it weren't for YOU I wouldn't be-"

"Bull-fucking-shit if it weren't for me Mommy would have killed herself before you got the chance to fucking arrive"

"Look I don't have to answer a damn thing to YOU…" Mark shook his head and pointed at Cooper, "My sole reason for being here is Lawson"

"Why?" that was Amber standing with Taylor and holding her hand, "Why are you here?" her large blue eyes softened and she shook her head at him, "You're supposed to go away…you're NOT supposed to be here"

"Actually Missy" Mark stepped forwards not about to be bossed by a six-year-old know-it-all brat, "I was INVITED."

"Oh yeah?" her hand went on her hip and she snorted, "By WHO? King Tut?"

"More like Lawson himself" he told her coldly and waved her off dismissively, "So why don't you just run along and play?"

"I don't want you here" she shook her head at him and pulled Chelsea closer to her defensively, "Get OUT of my house!"

"Technically it was MY house before your mother shoved her way in here, Miss"

"Mommy didn't shove her way anywhere; if James dumped you that's YOUR tough luck"

"James…?" his eyebrows rose in amusement, "No 'Daddy'?"

"I don't owe you jack shit" her face was stone, "Now AGAIN get out of my house"

"Look you little ungrateful brat" Mark stepped towards her even more and she actually backed a step while holding Chelsea, "If it wasn't for ME you'd be probably dead because your retarded mother didn't know what the hell to do when you were born, alright? You wouldn't have even made it to birth because your REAL father decided to leave her"

"You leave him and my mom out of this and just get out of my house…"

"I'll come right back in" he nodded while dangling the key in front of her face, "I bet you don't have one of these…"

She clenched a fist but of course couldn't do anything about it.

"That's what I thought" he nodded at her stiffly, "It's about time someone shut your obnoxious mouth up. Lawson called me to come over and I think deep down you know that. You're just too self-righteous to admit it."

"You're a pig" Amber nodded at him with a scowl, "And I hope you get hit by a moving bus…or maybe Mommy will have an episode and poke YOUR eyes out with a pair of scissors…she's very crafty you know."

"That's rich…" Mark snorted, "But I think your mother puts herself on the list before me"

Shaking her head and glaring at him Amber dropped her head before storming out of the room with Chelsea right behind her and Taylor could only scowl at Mark with a gasp.

"You know…I'm not really one to judge…" her lips stiffened, "but you're an ASS!"

"ASS!" Elizabeth shouted at Mark and Taylor nodded with a kiss to her temple.

"Preach it, sister"

"ASS!" Elizabeth shouted again at Mark and looked to Taylor to nod, which she did after tickling her stomach and pressing her lips to the baby's chubby cheek.

"I'm sure Lawson appreciates that"

"At this point…" shifting her weight and grabbing Cooper's arm so he wouldn't charge she grimaced, "If he's actually reaching out to someone like YOU he's lost all my respect."

…

"Daddy…" Thorn knocked on the door to James and Mindy's bedroom and once he opened it she beckoned towards the hallway and he checked Mindy once before doing so. She was only sitting on the bed, nothing major. Not like she would move.

"Yes, sweetheart?" James closed the door behind him and frowned, making Thorn sway waywardly and hug Oxa before worriedly answering.

"There's a scary man in our house…"

"Scary man?" James' eyebrow rose and Thorn nodded.

"He said you invited him."

"Oh god damn…" shaking his head James kissed the top of hers and glanced about worriedly, "Where is everyone?"

"Oh they found him" Thorn frowned and nodded, "Everyone found him already. They tried to make him go away but he didn't want to."

"Oh excellent…" James groaned and made his way downstairs to get ready for it.

…

"Does your uncle realize what an ASS he was ramming?" Taylor grimaced and bounced Elizabeth on her lap while sitting with her calves in the pool with Cooper and a seething Amber in her lap, "Like…that's horrible he would talk to a kid that way"

"He doesn't care" Cooper shook his head with an eye roll, "I told you all about him three times over"

"And I finally believe you."

Nodding along to that for a moment he took a minute to process that sentence before suddenly becoming offended by it, dropping his jaw with a sarcastic laugh and nudging her.

"Bitch…" he snorted and dropped his eyes before shaking his head at her, "nice to know you're a warm, trusting soul"

"Hey, you were a crackhead" she shrugged and let the corners of her mouth twitch, "I reserve my right to think what I want of you"

"Alright listen up, whore"

"I ran away from home…" she exhaled calmly, "I had no money…no high school…no support…no nothing. Not everyone gets Mindy's big break into fame…most of us end up singing waitresses"

"Was that your day job?" he never did learn what she did during the day, and she nodded with a hard swallow.

"Stardust Café" she nodded with a heavy sigh, "I made pretty good bank."

"That's cute" he smiled a bit and stared at his calves in the sun-heated water, "Did you get a little uhh…" he motioned to her clothing and she giggled loudly with a nod.

"Yeah…I had a little waitress uniform I had to dance on tables with" she caught the look on his face and pointed at him with a stern expression, "And NOT the type of dancing YOU'RE thinking about, sicko! I'm being strictly honest here when I tell you I danced on a pole at night and served burgers and fries with a skip in my step during the day"

"Real classy, diner girl" he nodded with a shake of his head when she smacked his arm and shrugged.

"What the hell did YOU do with yourself? At least I TRIED even if it was considered trashy…I was supporting my own ass."

"Don't worry" staring at the water he shrugged, "I won't be here much longer and you'll get to say 'I told you so'"

"Nah" she waved him off and shrugged a bit carelessly, "Just keep playing your cards right and you'll be okay. It's that big guy I don't like"

"Trust me…" Cooper's eyes got big, "you're in good company. Fucking everyone despises Calaway you're not alone"

"Everyone…" she mashed her teeth a bit, "but…your uncle."

"Clearly…" Cooper scowled and shook his head, "I don't know WHAT the hell he's here for but if Dad hurts Mommy because he can't make his fucking mind up again I won't hesitate to-"

One of Taylor's hands covered his.

"Let's go easy on the threat for a little bit and focus on getting your father out of that house, alright?"

"Ass!" Elizabeth shouted at her and Cooper, making them both nod and grin at her.

"That's right, Lizzie Bear" Cooper nodded happily, "You keep on preaching it."

"Can you believe they're having another baby?" Taylor grinned and sat Elizabeth up so her toes could skim the water, "I can't believe it I thought she couldn't have kids"

"The transplant can only come from a dead person"

"Serious?

"

"Oh yeah" Cooper nodded with wide eyes, "Mommy's getting some dead chick's thing put in her"

"When?"

"Hell if I know" he shrugged, "I think in a few days they get her whatever appointments she wants fast"

"Perks for being famous" Taylor smirked with a roll of her eyes and sighed, "That ugly old guy just better not be around for her pregnancy"

"I'll kill him first."

"Please be-"

"Careful?" he snorted, "What's that? And he's the same age as James"

"Bullshit!" she shook her head in astonishment, "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit he looks sixty!"

"Forty-five" he cringed, "I know. My looks don't come from THAT side of the fence."

"Well aren't WE the optimist?" a smug grin.

He grabbed Elizabeth before pushing Taylor in the pool.

…

Sniffling Mindy stared herself in the mirror and tried to run a brush through her hair to look somewhat presentable for when James came back in the room.

"What the hell are YOU doing?" the reflection of Mindy pounded the glass and growled from inside the mirror at Miranda, who had a straightener heating up and didn't give a damn what the bitch had to say. Scarlett was coming in to straighten her hair for James and that was that.

"What's it look like?" Miranda gestured towards the straightener and shrugged, "You blew it. It's MY turn"

"I MISSED!" Mindy shouted at her when Miranda shrugged and pouted her lips at the mirror before grabbing a clear gloss to put over her lips.

"So now it's my turn" Miranda nodded at Mindy with a shrug, "You fuck up, that's YOUR tough luck. I want my Jamie and there's nothing you can do about it"

"Oh yeah?" Mindy asked Miranda with a laugh, "Why don't you go downstairs and check out what precious 'Jamie' is up to?"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Miranda frowned when Mindy shrugged nastily and scowled.

"Ohhh I don't know…maybe he loves you so much he decided to invite over Mark?"

Miranda left the room without even turning off the straightener.


	83. Chapter 83

**Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **NeroAnne**: Poor Amber; as strong as she tries to be there's no way that doesn't mess you up. And Chelsea is just too much. I just want to bite her she's so cute. And yay : ) We're glad you've gotten caught up. **jadeMK11**: If Mindy/Miranda does see him things are going to get all kinds of interesting, that's for sure.

…

If James had ever felt like he was under fire before, it was nothing compared to now. When he came downstairs he literally felt like he was walking into the gallows. This was so very beyond bad; he had been so freaking out over the Miranda/Mindy thing at the time that had formed a plan made out of desperation. He had reached Miranda before with Mark in the picture and he had foolishly called Mark in hopes that just by seeing him Mindy would crack and he could pull Miranda out once more. But in his desperation, he had pretty much assumed that he could control Mark and get him to do things his way. And if Mark had just come right in uninvited and hadn't even called him to say he had arrived, that meant he had his own plans and that was not a good thing in general, but especially now. Mindy's suicide attempt had shaken him and he had been so focused on her that Mark had slipped his mind…another fucking mistake to add to the damn list. It was like every time he tried to do something, it blew up in his face somehow. It didn't matter if he was just trying to help or make something better; it blew up in his face and the situation got even harder because he had his own mess to clean up. _I'm an idiot,_ he told himself. _I'm a fucking fucking idiot that really needs to like…get an intelligence implant or something so I'll fucking stop doing this shit. Or fuck the implant, give me a hammer and let me beat some sense into my own brain. It fucking seems like I need it._

"What the FUCK is your problem?"

James stopped right in his tracks when he came face to face with a very angry Cooper. This was NOT what he needed to deal with right now. He had to fucking get Mark out of the house as fast as possible and dealing with Cooper was not going to lead to that. Unfortunately though, it was already being made clear that avoiding Cooper was going to be impossible. Cooper wasn't about to be pushed to the side and ignored. He had something to say and he was going to fucking say it.

"Fucking answer me!" Cooper ordered, putting both of his hands on James's chest and shoving him back as far as he could (James didn't go far but it was the action that counted more than anything). "What the fuck were you thinking? You fucking run around saying how much you love Mom yet you bring THAT back into the picture? You fucking hypocrite-"

SLAP! Unlike after he had done the same thing to Connor, James didn't feel immediately horrified with himself for hitting Cooper right across the face. Hell, that was fucking minor compared to the things he had done to him since the whole rape had occurred. "I know what it looks like," he said, still going ahead and trying to explain his side of the story even though he didn't owe Cooper shit. "And it's fucking not like that."

"Oh yeah?" Cooper rubbed his cheek gingerly and shook his head in disbelief. "Why should I believe that knowing your history with that fuck? Huh? Give me one good fucking reason to believe you."

"Why does everything have to be your business boy? Why the fuck can't you leave anything alone?"

James shook his head as Cooper whirled around and saw that Mark had stepped out of the shadows and was leaning up against the wall, staring at the both of them. Cooper's anger was rolling off of him in waves and his body was actually starting to shake he was so pissed. And James really not happy at all himself. Mark was standing there, that smug look in his eyes that told a lot about what he was thinking at the moment. He was completely projecting the fact that he thought he owned the place and he didn't give a shit how unwelcome he really was. Hell he was probably relishing in it and it pissed James off. They had known each other for forty years, there was no way Mark hadn't known he had been calling for help out of pure desperation and helplessness. He had known but didn't care. James had hoped he would care just a bit to help him but this was already proving to be a mistake. Mark had his own agenda and everyone else could just go to hell in his book.

"You…" Cooper clenched and unclenched his fists several times while glaring daggers at Mark. "Fucking go to hell." He looked back at James and shook his head. "You disgust me."

"I disgust you? Hey, my reasons were fucking innocent you crackhead rapist." Yeah, that one just came flying out before he could stop it. He knew damn well he fucked up by letting Mark in and he would take the hell from everyone else but not Cooper. Cooper had another thing coming if he thought he was taking his shit.

Mark's eyebrows shot right up at those words. "Crackhead rapist?" His lips twitched into a big grin. "What have you been up to boy?"

"None of your business," Cooper immediately snapped, having a hell of a time deciding who he wanted to glare at more.

That didn't sway Mark. Why would it? He was curious and in full asshole mode for whatever reason so he couldn't just leave things alone. "So did you rape someone for the drugs? Or while you were on drugs?"

"Mark," James growled, not speaking up to defend Cooper but because he was in no mood to hear it from him either.

"Or did you rape the bitch before-"

Cooper snarled animalistically before lunging at Mark, the both of them crashing down to the ground from the force of his tackle. This was years and years of bad blood being unleashed but this time James wasn't making any attempt to separate them. He was just letting them go at it. He wasn't with Mark anymore and he didn't care if Cooper got hurt. The situation could finally be solved by violence like it so desperately needed to be.

"What the hell is going on?" Taylor asked, running in when she heard the commotion. The kids had to be somewhere around the area, watching the drama unfold just like they always did. Her eyes got really big when she saw Mark punching Cooper and she shook her head frantically. "Hey! Leave him alone!" She grabbed on to Mark and tried to pull him off of Cooper only to get violently shoved away for her efforts.

_Oh fucking shit…_ James finally stepped in and first hauled Taylor back up to her feet and then pulled Mark and Cooper apart, making a point of shoving Mark towards the door. "Enough," he grunted roughly. "Fucking enough."

Mark wiped away a bit of blood on the corner of his lip and shook his head. "What's the matter Lawson? You called me and invited me up here. What-"

"You know damn well why you were supposed to be here," James growled, not denying that he had done that because that would be a lie and that wasn't going to save him now. "I wanted to draw Miranda back out of Mindy-"

"So you brought this mother fucker back into the picture?" Cooper said incredulously. "Did you lose your mind somewhere in the process?"

"Obviously I did," James admitted. "It tends to happen when your wife's alternate personality takes over and does her best to push you the hell away."

"So your solution was to call this guy?" Taylor asked, glaring daggers at Mark and getting quite the nasty glare right back at her.

"Bitch who the hell-" Mark tried to take a couple steps forward but James quickly shoved him back, which didn't set well with him at all. "What the hell is your problem Lawson? I come up here to help you-"

"Don't lie to me," James immediately interjected. "Don't fucking lie to me, you're not fooling anyone."

"Yeah really," Cooper agreed. "You came barging right in, went into Dad's office and acted like you owned the place even though you were brought here to be used-assuming that Dad isn't a fucking liar." He made sure to give James a real pointed glare at those words. He wasn't just taking James's statement about using Mark to get Miranda back out as fact. Not with the history Mark and James had. For all anyone else knew, this was their ugly cycle starting up once more.

Mark looked at all three of them, taking a good long look at their faces before finally nodding. "Okay, I admit it. You're right. I'm not here for that whole Mindy/Miranda bull-OW!" James had just popped him right in the mouth. "Jesus fuck Lawson!"

"Don't you dare start in on my wife like that," James growled. "Don't you ever-" He stopped in mid-sentence when he heard some sounds of discontent behind him. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Cooper looked like he was about to but then he caught the absolute murderous glare James was giving him and the fear that James had put into him via two murder attempts reared its head and he kept his silence. Taylor also kept silent, although her eyes did a lot of talking on their own.

Mark rubbed his mouth a bit before shaking his head and speaking again. "I can't do it anymore Lawson. I can't pretend to be happy with Michelle anymore. I-"

"No."

"You didn't let me finish."

"I don't have to. I know what you're about to say and my answer is no."

Mark didn't like that answer. "I fucking miss you Lawson," he admitted with a scowl. "Okay? I fucking miss you more than I can fucking stand. I was content with Michelle until I saw you again with that whole Caroline deal. When I went back to Texas…" He stopped and shook his head. "I couldn't fucking get you off my mind. I've been trying to just go back but I can't do it anymore. I want YOU Lawson. I realize that now."

James just stared at Mark incredulously, hardly able to believe he was hearing that. It was something he had heard after the Jodi and Sara marriages so he wasn't shocked to finally hear it this time around. But unlike the other two times, he wasn't jumping for joy on the inside. No, now he was just pissed and he clocked Mark right in the face as hard as he could.

"Yes!" Cooper said, jumping into the air and pumping his fist and then looking down shamefully when he realized he had just cheered on James (which really really was not on his agenda for the day). "Sorry," he said to Taylor. "Old instinct."

Taylor only shook her head at him while James ignored him completely. He was too focused on glaring daggers at Mark. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Lawson-"

"Who do you think I am Mark? Do you think I'm just going to welcome you back with open arms?"

"Why not?" Mark said with a shrug. "You've done it before."

"Yeah well times have changed."

"Oh what, you're above juggling two people at once now?"

James scowled. "I learned my lesson the last time I did that. All it does is cause pain and jealousy and I won't do it. Not again. I'm not a good human being by any stretch of the imagination but I won't fucking put Baby Doll through that. I know this is going to be hard for you to understand but my marriage actually means something to me. My wife is my fucking world. The sun rises and fucking sets on her."

Mark folded his arms over his chest and let out a little snort.

"What?" James snapped. "You don't believe me?" Oh how he was tired of being doubted all the fucking time. From Mindy he could take it because she was sick. Doubts and all that shit was part of her disease. But he had been getting it from more sides than just her and he had reached his limit on it.

"We were together for-"

"I don't care how long we were together for Mark. I don't. It's over. It's been over for quite a fucking while. I don't love you anymore."

"Excuse me?" Mark said while Cooper raised his eyebrows in the background.

"I don't love you anymore. I'm not in love with you, I don't have love for you…there's nothing. Just nothing." James wasn't fucking around and Mark knew it. Knowing each other for so long allowed them to see when the other one was completely serious.

Mark slowly shook his head in denial while James didn't waver. "Lawson-"

"You need to go. Right now." James knew he was still facing a shit storm and he couldn't deal with Mark being there too. "I'm sorry I called you, it was a mistake."

"It wasn't-"

"It was."

Mark didn't say anything to that this time. He was pissed; like way way beyond pissed. But he didn't bother to say anything. He just gave James one last look that said he wasn't going to let this just be over before walking out, slamming the door shut so hard behind him that it made a loud bang sound and caused the windows to violently vibrate for a good long while after he was gone.


	84. Chapter 84

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: James knew damn well he couldn't waste any time trying to let Mark play his games. It was get him out now or be fucked and luckily he got him out. And as for a Plan B, maybe he'll need it or maybe he won't. This chapter will tell us. **cathy**: Aw thanks. Hope you like this one too.

…

Staring at Mark's car as it pulled out of the driveway with a cock of her head, Mindy sprinted down the stairs and pounced on James. He didn't know she was coming so he did get slightly startled, but the second her lips crushed his and her legs wrapped around his waist he responded almost violently. Both strong arms compressed her to him and they kissed as long and hard as her little lungs could stand.

"Jamie!" petting his face frantically while kissing his lips, she sniffled and tried as hard as she could to look him in the eye, "Jamie look, Jamie! LOOK!"

"I'm looking, Baby Doll what is it?" eyeballing her he leaned and kissed her harder before backing her to the nearest wall and getting her legs hooked around his waist, "What is it, what do you want me to see?"

"Jamie LOOK!" laughing and crying simultaneously she motioned towards herself and nodded, "It's ME, Jamie LOOK! ME!"

"Me?" at first he was puzzled, but one look into her eyes and he fell in love all over again to extreme new heights. That unique starry glaze which lit up only for him was back and if that was back it could only mean one thing. "Oh Baby Doll…" running a hand down her cheek he nodded and smiled fondly, "It IS you!"

"I love you, Jamie" she nodded as he kissed her harder and started up the steps, "I love you more than anybody ever Jamie I LOVE you, I do"

"Ssssshh" kissing her forehead and fumbling with the handle to their bedroom he managed to pull the door open and just sit on the bed with her legs around his waist, "I know it's you, Baby I know now…and I'm so glad you're back Baby Doll you have no idea just how glad I am. The only-"

He was looking to explain the only reason why Mark even came but her body rocked upwards so both her arms made it tight around his neck and they kissed hard. Mindy laced her tongue against his while grinding her hips hard against his groin, needing to feel him hard for her more than anything in the world. One of his free hands fixed his jeans and boxers so his cock was freed and Mindy's hand went around it right away.

"Baby Doll…" he groaned the moment she stroked him and immediately made herself go harder and faster for him. Her free hand fondled his balls and he couldn't fight not to thrust into her hand when she laid him on his back before crawling over him so his cock could feel her mouth, and James reached a hand to rub her wet center as best he could.

"Mmmm" sucking his cock harder from the teasing rubs, James finally slipped a long finger inside and she moaned.

"You want more, Baby Doll?" the pace he fingered her at quickened, and the way she ran her tongue everywhere while sucking him gave the answer, "Oh Baby you look like you do…" another finger slipped in and she loved it.

The harder he fingered her the harder she sucked and licked him and that was it. Slowly dragging his fingers out he licked them clean before moving his mouth to her and nibbling on her clit. Desperately her hips thrust the air because he licked so good and he needed two hands to hold her thighs so his mouth could wander and lick every centimeter of her. Squeezing his balls she licked and sucked the tip when a bit of pre-cum shot into her mouth and he moaned. He moaned so hard all she could do was take his entire cock down her throat and suck as hard as she could. Meanwhile she looked so good from behind especially being so wet for him so after tongue-fucking he fingered her with three fingers while licking her clit as hard as he could while scraping his teeth and she came. Her juices tasted so good he came right after and just let her keep sucking for another few minutes. His cum was completely swallowed but she hoped that by sucking his cock more he would still maybe have more cum in there.

"Baby Doll you taste amazing" he panted and just started touching her clit once more and playing around with her innocently, "and you know how I feel about that mouth" two of his fingers opened her up while the third rubbed her inner walls, making her spine arch in pleasure but not enough to remove anything from his cock. "Oh Baby Doll…" leaning up he kissed her clit more and gently played around in it because she was so wet, "you look so wet and ready for me I need to fuck you right now…nobody will ever suck my cock like you"

Gently placing kisses up his length she moved around so they both sat up in bed before kissing and he got her on her back.

"Let's see how much you want me, Baby Doll" his hand sat between her legs and she nodded with a sniffle.

"Fuck me, Jamie" she rode his hand and begged, "Fuck me, Jamie fuck me now"

Positioning his cock he rubbed the head against her wet center before making her crazy, "Tell me what you want"

"Oh god" her hips went into his hand harder, "I want your perfect cock to fuck me so hard and cum inside me"

A single thrust he growled at her tightness and nipped her ear before pounding away.

"Mmmm Jamie, yeah!" her head went back and she moaned, "Just like that, Jamie, there! Oh baby I can take you hard, I can take you so fucking hard I love this cock"

He sped up right away and she tried to match pace, moaning and pulling his hair until she came. Her walls clamped around him so tight he had no choice but to cum either, loving the way she moaned at his release and watched his cock get sopping wet in her juices.

…

"So wait, darling, why was Mark here?" Mindy frowned from her spot on James's chest as they lied in bed watching movies with Elizabeth later that night.

"I told you…" he sighed and kissed the tops of both their heads, "I thought it was the only way to bring you back"

"By calling up an ex-boyfriend you were with for forty years?" her eyebrow rose and immediately James shook his head.

"No. Not that way, I mean I just thought…" he shrugged and rubbed her back, "I thought the only way to get you back was to chase Mindy out somehow and I remember the first time it happened"

"Oh Jamie!" kissing him, she pet his face and frowned, "No, no, Jamie darling, no! She" she meant Mindy, "Will NEVER go away forever, you know that!"

"I broke through to you somehow…" he shrugged when she leaned up and kissed him.

"Because I fell in love with you" smiling weakly she held him tight and nodded, "Stupid ugly MARK did not to anything, Jamie, I fell in love with you like crazy. I loved you and she did not love you but she thought you were pretty. When you made me sad and rejected me-"

"I never rejected you ever"

"Well…" her eyes dropped and she shrank back, "I thought you did"

"No…" shaking his head he touched her face and smiled gently, "Look at you, you're beautiful; how could anyone straight-up reject you?"

"YOU did…"

"Nope" he kissed the side of her head, "I didn't. If anything I started it all by flirting with you"

"But you did not make the first move"

"I flirted with you, didn't I? Obviously I liked you"

"But I LOVED you" frowning she looked around the room dejectedly, "If you did not love me you coulda said something."

"Baby Doll…" shaking his head he just dropped his lips to the top of her head like a lovesick puppy, and that was good enough for Miranda. She smiled and reached up to run her fingers through his hair before kissing him.

"Best friend" she giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth before kissing him again, "I lovie you too much"

"No such thing" he sifted her hair and nuzzled her neck, which made her frown and hug his cheek.

"You know she will always come back, right?" her voice got very very serious and he nodded, "She will never go away forever she will always come back."

"I don't want her to though"

"She don't give a fuck and she is a part of me" she shrugged, "She will always come back"

"No fair" James frowned when Mindy shrugged and dropped her eyes.

"I am not asking you to love her; you do not have to love her. I know she is very mean but that is just how she is. We trap each other when bad things happen and she tried to get me again but I said no, I did."

"I'm glad you did" he nodded when she kissed him and pet his face.

"Was Mark nice to you when he came back?"

"I kicked him out" James nodded and her eyes got big.

"Why?"

"I don't know why I even called him; I thought I was helping you which was a big mistake"

"Why would Mark help me?" she giggled and poked her tongue between her teeth, "He hates me"

"He was trying to get back with me and I just wasn't having any of it" he shook his head and she nodded along.

"If you want to…" her hair began to fall in her face and she shrugged, "You can…I will not stop you, I swear I will not if you love him again and not me. We will go back to California"

"No, no, no, no, I only want YOU, alright sweetheart?" smiling weakly he tried to nod for her, "You're the one for me."

"But Mark will not like no for an answer, Jamie Paul" she warned him with a shaky voice and he waved her off.

"I thought I needed him to help, but it turns out you're just fine so what the hell does he think I'm going to do?" he shrugged, "I don't want him back; I don't even want to know he's still alive"

"Are you just SAYING that? Or…?"

"Baby Doll I fucking mean everything I say because I fucking love the hell out of you. He tries to get back in here I'll chop his god damn head off."

…

"You think Mommy's gonna be alright?" Amber frowned while sitting across the table at dinner on the day of Mindy's surgery. James and Elizabeth were at the hospital with her while Taylor stood behind with all the kids.

"I…" Taylor shrugged and leaned over to cut something of Tryg's, "I don't see why not I mean Mommy's a little tank if anyone can make it, it's her."

"I hope so…" she frowned and ran a hand through her hair, "Mommy always gets so sick I get scared whenever she's pregnant"

"Oh nice" Scarlett nodded from across the table, "So you're saying when we were all born you wanted us to get ripped out with a hanger so Mommy doesn't get sick…" she nodded along before scowling, "But she got SICKEST with YOU and LIZZIE BEAR! So YOU are the bad one, Missy!"

"Stop it, Scar, alright?" Amber snapped at her and rolled her eyes, "You're honestly the stupidest person ever you know nothing about anything"

"Do TOO!" Scarlett argued and Taylor shot a finger both of their ways.

"STOP it! Both of you! Alright?" sighing as she caught their attention she ran a hand through her blonde hair, "Look, I understand tensions are high and we ALL" she looked to Tryg and Chelsea and Cooper, "care about Mommy, alright? We ALL love her very very much and it would break her heart to hear you guys fighting like this."

Looking around the table everyone nodded so Taylor continued.

"PLEASE be good so Mommy can come home happy and healthy and soon you'll have a baby brother or sister to play with again. This is supposed to be a HAPPY thing, guys!"

"Mommy and happy pregnancy don't know each other" Amber pointed out gravely one last time.

…

James sat outside the room Mindy was being operated in with Elizabeth in his lap and a weak smile on his face while kissing her over and over again. Lammy was clenched in her arms and she was rotating between chewing on his face and kissing her father.

"Are you excited, Lizzie Bear? Huh?" cooing he pressed kisses all over her and grinned, "Pretty soon we're gonna have another little baby, yes we are! You want a sister or a brother, Lizzie Bear?" he nuzzled her nose and kissed her lips yet again, "What does Lizzie Bear want?"

"You have any idea how pathetic you sound, Lawson?"

That voice made James scowl and look up from his daughter to see Mark standing there right in front of him.


	85. Chapter 85

**Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **cathy**: LOL if only it were that easy to get rid of him *shakes head* **jadeMK11**: Nah you're not being annoying. I'm on board with the shotgun idea.

…

"What are you doing here?" James asked, clutching Elizabeth protectively as he glared at his ex. The tension in the entire area spiked a hundredfold and Elizabeth began to fuss, staring at Mark with wide eyes and clutching Lammy even closer to her than before. Mark eyed her contemptuously, which made her fuss even more. Nobody ever looked at her like that. This wasn't love and adoration or petty childish jealousy; he was actually looking at her with hate and it made James growl because he recognized it immediately. "Calaway!" he snapped, really getting testy now because he had caught that look.

Mark did what was good for him and looked away from Lizzie and back at James. "What the fuck are you doing Lawson?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head. "This is your life now?"

James's eyes narrowed and he began bouncing Elizabeth lightly in order to try to settle her back down a bit. Some of her fussing ceased but it didn't stop completely. Things were too tense between Mark and James to allow it. "Why are you here Mark?" he asked, situating Elizabeth so she and Lammy could bury their faces in his broad shoulder. "Really, why haven't you gone back to Texas yet? I'm sure _your wife_ is wondering why you aren't back yet."

Mark's face twitched at those words. "You thought I was just going to go back? Really Lawson?" He shook his head as James nodded and glared. "Fuck that shit Lawson. We need to talk."

"No we don't," James said firmly. "I said everything I needed to say back at the house."

"ASS!" Elizabeth suddenly yelled, startling James and making Mark scowl. She turned herself back around and looked at Mark defiantly. "ASS!"

"Seems like she's got your mouth already," Mark grunted, his tone showing his clear disapproval of the young infant.

"Yeah, what of it?" James said, kissing the top of Elizabeth's head affectionately. "At least she's already got your number." He gave Elizabeth another kiss. "Isn't that right Lizzie Bear? You know all about stupid Mark and his stupid ways?"

Mark's face twitched once again and his fingers began to clench and unclench as James kept right on cooing and baby talking Elizabeth. "Very mature Lawson. Very fucking mature. Now will you have the decency to just fucking talk to me?"

James rolled his eyes. "What is there to talk about Mark? I made a mistake by calling you here when it turned out you weren't needed and I'm sorry I wasted your time." That apology didn't mean shit because it was clear he was only saying it in hopes that Mark would just accept it and go. "Baby Doll needed me and we're good. We're fucking fantastic and I'm sorry if all this raised some sort of false hope in you. I mean really, that was not what I was meaning to do. You were a means to get my Baby Doll back and that's it."

Mark rolled his eyes, trying to control his temper and bury down his anger and only displaying his annoyance. It was hard though. It was so fucking hard that he could barely even stand it. He wanted to grab James and fucking shake him until he saw things his way. He had to make him see things his way just like he had done in the old days. But at the moment, he couldn't do shit because Elizabeth was still resting in James's arms. He tried anything now and he would get his head ripped clean off without any kind of hesitation. James was notoriously protective of his children and given that Elizabeth was an infant, he was guaranteed to go extra apeshit over anything that was perceived as a threat while she was around. "Come on Lawson, hear me out." Maybe pleading would work. It had in the past. "I know I've royally fucked up time and time again. I-"

"Mark? Would you mind doing me a favor and not insult my intelligence?" James was a lot of things but an idiot was not one of them. He knew when he was being fed bullshit and he especially knew it when it was coming from Mark's mouth. He had heard so much of it over the years that he could automatically identify it as soon as it left Mark's mouth. "I don't want to hear that speech again. I got tired of it after the first half dozen times you said it."

Mark fell silent. That was the problem with trying to talk to a stubborn bastard you had known for four decades; they knew just how to be difficult. "I love you," he said, getting angrier when James just sat there and looked at him. "Don't that mean anything to you?"

"No," James replied. "Not anymore. You want to know why? Because I know you. Maybe you do still have feelings for me, I don't know. But what I do know is that those feelings aren't why you're here. You don't ever come to me with your tail between your legs because you have feelings. You're here because you want me back because you're either bored with not being able to use me or you want to get back at Baby Doll. You want to prove that I love you best even when I don't."

"She stole you-"

"No. No no no I don't think so."

"Of course you don't. She poisoned you against me."

James scowled and stood up, making Mark take an automatic step back. Even with a baby in his arms he was an intimidating bastard at full height. "My Baby Doll has done no such thing," he said dangerously. "You understand me? All the times you cheated and lied to me said everything that needed to be said. I was just too dumb to get the message." He adjusted Elizabeth in his arms and pointed towards the exit. "Now go. Just go right now and do this nicely or the shit will get ugly."

Mark snorted. "You wouldn't do anything to me Lawson."

"Oh yeah? Wanna try me?" James got that gleam in his eye that only spelled bad news whenever it appeared and Mark chose to just back off, even though he didn't want to.

"I'll be seeing you," he promised before he went, making James glare at him until he was out of sight completely.

"Ass!" Elizabeth yelled once more, nomming on Lammy's face and then nomming on James's shirt.

James chuckled and kissed the top of her head affectionately. "Where did you learn that word silly?"

"Lammy!"

"Lammy taught you it? Oh dear. You're a potty mouth Lammy."

Elizabeth laughed and put Lammy's face against James's mouth and he immediately pretended to nom on it, his encounter from Mark temporarily driven out of his mind at the sound of his daughter's laughter.

…

When Mindy woke up from surgery James and Elizabeth were waiting for her with a giant tray of red velvet cupcakes he had delivered straight from the nearest bakery. "Jamie," she said with a smile as he settled himself in bed with her. "You got me goodies."

"Of course I did," James said, giving her a gentle kiss on the side of her head. "I love getting you goodies Baby Doll." He handed her one of the cupcakes and immediately got some of the frosting smeared across his face and licked off. "Well that's one way to enjoy them," he said with a laugh.

Mindy giggled and continued to smear frosting on any part of James's skin that she could get to and licked it off. "I want to make our baby," she announced as she held the cupcake up to his mouth.

James took a bite and raised his eyebrows. "Right here and now?"

She nodded. "I want our baby real badly Jamie."

"I do too Baby Doll but are you sure you don't need any more time to recover? I don't want to hurt you." That concern was the only thing that was keeping him from jumping her bones right then and there.

"I'm fine Jamie," she assured him. She was lying of course. She was still really sore from the surgery but she wanted that baby in her and she was going to say whatever it took to make sure that happened. "I just want you so bad." She took Elizabeth out of his arms and got her settled comfortably in hers before taking his hand and placing it in between her legs so she could rub her already wet pussy against it. "See?"

James's breath caught in his throat as his cock went from zero to rock hard in the matter of seconds. "Well if you're sure…" He slipped one finger inside of her and then another, rubbing her walls with them while he used his other hand to unbutton his jeans and push them and his boxers down far enough so he could free his cock from its confines.

Mindy licked her lips and spread her legs at the sight of it. "Oh yeah Jamie," she moaned, bucking her hips against his fingers as much as she could. "Fuck me with that big cock of yours."

James grinned. "Your wish…" he took his fingers out and slid his cock inside of her, both of them moaning as he did so "is my command Baby Doll." He gave her a bit to adjust, kissing her all over her neck and her lips, sliding his tongue into her mouth and making out with her. She kissed him back feverishly, wrapping her tiny legs around him as he began to thrust inside of her. "You're so tight Baby Doll," he said, swiping one of the cupcakes and smearing the frosting on her chest so he could lick it off. "Your pussy squeezes my cock so tight and I love it."

"Mmm Jamie." Mindy nipped at his lower lip and held him as close as she could with the arm that wasn't holding Elizabeth. "Your cock is stretching my pussy Jamie its so big. It so big for my itty bitty pussy."

James moaned in pleasure, kissing her as much as he possibly could so the doctors and nurses wouldn't hear them and try to interrupt. He was trying to be gentle so he wouldn't hurt her but it was really really hard for him to go slow. Her tight wet center felt so good that he just wanted to pound away at it as hard as he possibly could. He resisted that urge though-mostly anyway. His pace inevitably did quicken because her tight walls felt so fucking good around his cock. "I love you," he said, kissing her earlobe and reaching down so he could play with her clit.

"I love you more," Mindy declared, gasping as he began to rub her as he thrusted. "Jamie! Oh Jamie right there! Right there! Jamie Jamie Jamie!"

James rubbed her fast and furiously, cumming as he felt her walls tighten even more around with at the force of her orgasm. "Baby Doll!" He thrusted a bit more, emptying every ounce of his seed into her before stopping to catch his breath. "What do you think? Think it worked already?"

"Maybe," Mindy said, kissing him and snuggling up against his chest. "But we should do it some more to make sure."

"Yeah. It's always good to be thorough…"

…

"You better be careful there rich boy. I don't want you falling out and hurting yourself on me."

Cooper's lips twitched as he shook his head. The kids were all asleep, having passed out during a movie marathon and he was sitting at the ledge of the open window, leaning out a bit so he could smoke and not have the room stink of it. "Yeah well there's no Connor to push me out and down into the bushes this time so unless you're planning to do it I'm not worried."

Taylor shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. "You would probably like it if I did that."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?"

"Because I've discovered that you're a giant glutton for punishment."

He didn't make any kind of attempt to deny that. Instead he took a giant drag of his cigarette and then put it out and tossed it away. "I talked to Connor earlier."

"Oh yeah?" Taylor said as she ran her hand through her hair. "How did that go?"

"Okay I guess. I didn't get to talk to him long because Nattie, Bret and her sisters were taking him fishing or something."

Taylor tilted her head to the side and tried to imagine Connor fishing. All she managed to come up with was him jumping into the water in order to "pet" the fishes. "Has he ever-"

"No," Cooper replied. "Dad hates fishing and even if I liked it I wouldn't take him. He would go into the lake and fight to not come back out."

"Yeah, I wouldn't doubt that. I haven't really gotten to know him that well but I wouldn't ever take him anywhere if I could help it." Taylor motioned towards the sleeping children. "They don't like him."

"Yeah I know," Cooper said. "He don't like them because he wants to be the baby and don't want to accept that he can't be anymore."

"And he don't like Mom," Taylor quickly pointed out.

"He used to," Cooper said, getting just a wee bit defensive over Connor. He couldn't help it, he was the big brother. It was what he did. "But then the whole thing with me and Mom happened and he would not truly accept that it was me who was in the wrong. He lashed out at her and Dad and that's where it all went to hell. It's all my fault."

"Well at least you're admitting it," Taylor said dryly. "Not sure how much good that's going to do though. He's going to have to come home at some point and all those problems-"

"Fuck the problems," Cooper said defiantly. "Look, I don't know when he's coming home or if I'll still be living here or even be alive-I have this new tendency of getting on Dad's bad side in the worst possible ways."

Taylor snorted loudly at that. "You think?"

He flipped her the bird before continuing on. "What I'm trying to say is though is that Connor will be getting an attitude adjustment courtesy of me if he tries to act out and not listen."

"And what makes you think he'll listen to you? You're not his father-"

"Exactly. He was Dad's baby for too many years and won't listen to him because he thinks all he has to do is declare his "hate" and Dad will cave on anything. You want to know who the authority with him was after Mom died? Me. Besides fucking my life up I am good at two other things: sex and Connor wrangling."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "That's probably because those are the only things you put any actual effort into. Otherwise you're completely content on just coasting through and not fending for yourself."

Cooper pouted. "That's not true," he said, blatantly lying because he knew damn well it was.

"Oh bullshit rich boy. You're twenty eight years old and you can't even take care of yourself because you're too lazy and self indulgent to do it." She gave him a very serious look. "You could do it if you actually tried. You're a dumbass yeah but there's a smart boy buried somewhere underneath there."

"Uh…" Cooper didn't know whether that was more of a compliment or an insult.

"You're welcome Richie Rich." Apparently it was just a very backhanded compliment. "Now come on." She patted the spot next to her. "Come watch 300 with me."

"But I've seen that movie at least-"

"I don't care. Get over here right now and watch it with me."

He rolled his eyes and reluctantly did what she said. "You're such a bossy bitch."

"And don't you ever forget it."


	86. Chapter 86

**Esha Napoleon** and **cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Good thinking. Can't be too careful with him.

…

Amber sat at Mindy's white grand piano playing the piano portion of Hurricane just so Cooper could get more practice in. Her mother's uterus transplant had delayed the actual recording of Cooper's part of the song, but Mindy had the piano melody, the guitars, and Kanye West all recorded ready to go. Mindy had also performed some operatic background vocals for Cooper and was just waiting for Cooper to record the vocals so the song could finally be released. Cooper was seated at the bench next to her tentatively as Amber just droned away at the sheet in front of her because unlike Mindy, she wasn't gifted in memorization of entire songs without ever studying the sheet. Mindy's uncanny ability to play by ear was unfortunately something only she would have. Amber's voice was actually better than Mindy's (which was practically impossible given her range and overall pitch), but was much much more classical and opera-based. Mindy was meant for pop charts and selling albums.

Cooper just stared at her long fingers and how easily they played the piece Mindy had composed herself in astonishment. His little sister was too smart for her own good and she wasn't speaking to him still. She hated him, everyone knew that. She hated everything about him and wasn't very good at hiding it. He was so scared green of her he couldn't even sing despite the way she was glaring at him to do so.

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and just stared at her beautiful blonde head, "Look…"

Clearly she was taking none of it, "Mommy needs this song recorded she's not going to delay the release of it she promised a surprise in a few weeks for her fans she needs this song to be finished."

"Amber" his eyes dropped and he frowned, "She's not going to be able to perform anything with anyone she just had surgery that no one called for"

"And we're going to have another baby soon" Amber nodded with a straightened back, a dark glaze creeping over her face and she scowled, "I hate James. I hate you and I hate Connor and I hate James almost as much as I hate Mark. The four of you just tag-team with kicking my Mommy's ass and I don't appreciate it at all."

"Hey!"

"R-A-P-E! Get-your-penis-out-of-me!" she sang her own little tune apathetically and scowled at him before continuing the piano part, "NOW…" feeling victorious that he'd gone quiet she continued, "are we going to play this part or not?"

"Not until you hear me out, alright?" he went to touch her shoulder but in pure disgust she wriggled away, not having any of that by any means.

"What's there to hear?" she hissed, "You raped my mother. HE…" she meant James, "raped and beat my mother…MARK…" her face got extra hard, "raped my mother…and Connor's just a whiny retarded dirtbag who can't get over himself-"

"Hey!" Cooper shouted and she only looked at him encouragingly with raised eyebrows.

"Go ahead! Hit me…" her big blue eyes narrowed and her nose wrinkled, "I triple-dog-DARE you to lay a FINGER on me!"

"If you weren't Mom's kid I'd fucking-"

"What?" she shrugged indifferently, "Kill me? Go ahead I mean" she exhaled with a sigh, "I'm only six…haven't really done much. If you took an AXE, or…" she waved a dismissive hand, "WHATEVER it is you psychotics use…to my head" she shrugged with a sigh, "I really wouldn't fucking care. I'm six, my mother is a paranoid schizophrenic constantly being raped and tortured, my siblings don't know their asses from their elbows when it comes to the real world, my father who used to make my mother wish she was dead finally kicked the bucket, I'm a nerd, and I have no friends" with a sigh she shrugged and slapped her hands to the bench, "You wouldn't deprive me of much by killing me…it's almost worse to keep me alive."

"No. You wanna know why people don't like you?" he hissed with a shake of the head, "You're a self-righteous little bitch that's why"

She gave him a stern look, "Can you blame me? If I don't care for my mother who will?"

"I would-"

"Please" with a snort she waved him off, "that's funny. You wouldn't do SHIT for her and you know it. My mother would be in a nuthouse if James had his way and now that she can get pregnant again he'll keep her around longer just to screw her and knock her up with another thousand Lawson's to compensate for us and keep pushing us back because we're not his kids."

"You don't know what I'd do-"

"OH yes I do, Cooper Benjamin!" she nodded with wide eyes, "You would sleep until eleven every day and leave my mother to ROT happily! She doesn't need that! She can't live on YOUR schedule, alright? YOU have to cater to HER she's SICK! And James is inviting Mark back I don't give a DAMN if he left already he wants him to come back and hurt my Mommy he does!"

"I don't want him back anymore than you do"

"Of course you don't" she shook her head and wrinkled her nose, "Your beef with Mark is your own gig. He RAPED my mother! He HIT my mother when she tried to protect YOU! He put her in a crazy house! He tried to take us away from James and I almost wish he did! Grandpa would love us but he would put Mommy in a crazy house anyway-"

"Making Dad really the only option for you-"

"Don't talk like that" she waved him off with a scowl, "He's not my father. He never will be he doesn't even TRY anymore"

"And what constitutes to you as 'trying'?"

"Well…" her eyebrows rose, "not calling up your ex-boyfriends from halfway across the country for one to come see you especially when you know that Mommy has MPD and it will NEVER go away. He married Mindy too and he needs to know that. She slips in and out all the time nothing will stop it. His one shot of keeping Mindy away for long was blown because he decided-"

"To get possessed by his dead mother-"

She gave him a very disbelieving look, "More like beat the SHIT out of mine."

"Look, you really don't cut him a break"

"Coming from the guy who was trying to throw him out of the picture entirely so he could have my mother to himself" she nodded along smugly, "Oh yeah. You're a GREAT one to listen to"

"Amber PLEASE listen to me and understand how SORRY I am"

"I'm not asking for perfection from ANYONE" she stared at him indifferently while shaking her head, "But after watching how you all treat my mother like a dinner special I'm getting sick of it. She's a person you can't play Monopoly with her body. James is going to knock her up and then what? Leave her for Mark again just like last time? Is THAT why Mark showed up again? Because I totally bet it was. That son of a bitch better stay away from Mommy"

"Or what?" he snorted, "You're gonna pull a knife on me just like you did to Connor?"

"You WISH I only grabbed a knife" she sneered and shook her head angrily at him, "I would LOVE to kill every man in this house except my little brother right now."

"You…" curling his lips he shook his head at her and barred his teeth, "YOU need help, you know that? You seriously fucking need help you're fucking crazy"

"Well aren't YOU the pot calling the kettle black now?" her teeth barred and she shook her head with a sneer, "The only good thing James ever did was attempt to exterminate your ass…"

Without any further acknowledgement Amber stood from the piano bench and gave him a nasty glare before leaving.

…

Pulling Stickers further into her lap Chelsea adjusted her spot in James's comfortable spinning chair with one of her mother's many sets of paint in front of her. As it was pink and blue handprints were smeared all over the desk followed by, 'DADDY' written in gigantic squiggly letters across the entire desk in pink. Any papers he had on the desk were completely destroyed but this had to be done. It was Daddy's office and mean Mark had to know that.

Dipping her fingers in the blue she painted hearts and smiley faces all over 'DADDY' on the desk before looking at the computer monitor and getting a better idea of how it was supposed to be so no one could steal it. Thick pink paint glopped onto Stickers by accident as she wrote, 'DADDY' on the computer screen next followed by a nice heart and a smiley face. Moving on…'DADDY' had been written on the keyboard and next she moved to the bookshelf and used chairs to support her weight while writing, 'DADDY' all across them.

Nodding curtly her eyes switched to the floor and she shook her hair out before painting a mural of her and James on the floor before writing 'DADDY' across in case someone tried to pull the floor apart and steal that too. She wrote on the door followed by the chair and every single item on the walls. Poor Stickers was covered in paint but Chelsea wasn't paying any attention to that. She needed the room to be declared Daddy's so stupid Mark couldn't come back and steal it.

…

"C'mere…" giggling Taylor pulled Tryg under her arm and blew a raspberry on his stomach in the pool when out the corner of her eye she caught Cooper stalking out her way and cringed.

From what she knew Cooper was supposed to be inside practicing with Amber so he could get his verse of the song recorded but things weren't going his way.

"Oh god…" sighing she looked to Tryg, who could only grimace and shake his head while hugging her neck.

"What's with HIM?"

"Good question" she nodded with wide eyes before looking at Cooper in astonishment and noticing how Cooper would be soon near the deep end so she beckoned Tryg to swim outward with her, "Let us venture into the great beyond to find out, my good comrade!"

"Yes! We must!" Tryg nodded while swimming alongside Taylor all the way to the opposite end of the pool by the diving board when Cooper sat right on top of it and shook his head with a scowl.

"Who shit all over YOUR face?" Taylor snorted with a shake of the head, "Aren't you supposed to be with Ambie learning your part?"

"Please…" with wide eyes Cooper shook his head as she crossed her arms at the end of the pool and frowned, "don't even mention that name in my presence or I'll go AWOL"

"Why?" exchanging glances with Tryg, Taylor pulled her rail-thin body out of the water and shook herself off so she wasn't dripping when sitting next to Cooper on the edge of the diving board. Her head dropped to his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his back from behind to encourage him to speak.

"The demon just…" his eyes widened and he shook his head, "if I could vaporize a single person on this planet right now-"

SMACK!

"FUCK, Taylor!" Cooper shook his head at her and her blue eyes remained stone.

"She's a BABY"

"Not in mind and spirit"

"Do you have ANY idea what that kid has been through in these six years?" her thin lips pouted and she shook her head in anger at him.

"You don't know a damn thing"

"I'm probably closer to her now than you EVER will be at this point and TRUST ME" her eyes got big, "The shit that kid has been through…she mommies MOM!"

"And puts herself on a god damn cross to let everyone know it and how incapable they are"

"That kid has ONE friend in this world…" her face fell and she shook her head, "You have no idea what happens to her in school, do you?"

"What?" he asked plainly with no added emotion and she scowled with clenched teeth.

"Oh…well let's begin with the fact that every day she eats lunch ALONE because the other kids make fun of her, she texts her mother all day at school so she's not lonely but everyone makes fun of her saying she's pretending to have friends, people steal her homework and rip it up, she's had girls trying to cut her hair, gets called an ASSLOAD of names…" her lips curled and her teeth clenched with a shake of the head, "Not to mention the complete mockery her own teachers make of her intelligence and embarrass her in front of the class. THEN she comes home back in the day to her father smacking her mother around like a ragdoll and NOWADAYS she has to deal with all the shit coming from your side of the family. The kid has never had a definitive father figure in her entire life and the one person she finally trusted turned on her mother like a pitbull and actually went as far as to LEAVE her and then watch her cry not even caring if she killed herself or not" she shrugged and shook her head, "Some LIFE that kid has. Plus she has to watch out for her mother because no one else will"

"Dad-"

"Wouldn't have known a damn thing about caring for Mommy without Ambie. She truly is her mother's keeper and there better be a BIG OPEN space in heaven for that kid"

"She's an obnoxious little-"

"Did I EVER hint she was perfect?" her eyes narrowed and she shook her head, "Sure she's a bit cocky and aloof, but that's who she IS Cooper. Her intelligence lets her do that even me when we talk I feel like she's losing brain cells."

"Yeah well she's not in a house of fucking geniuses she needs to learn how to cool her shit."

"She's SIX…she's a little kid still"

"With no idea how to BE a kid"

"Not everyone grew up with free reign of the house, alright?"

"Then why isn't she fucking busting to get out of this house?"

"Because according to her…there was only one big problem for her to deal with and she could control it because she was his favorite. YOU on the other hand all triple-teamed her with James and Connor and now she's what she is"

"Dad's brood mare?"

"In Amber's eyes?" she shrugged, "Sure. When your Dad's boyfriend came back she had been seriously considered being nice to him before seeing that ugly tan guy. She told me so herself she might have tried to talk things over with him"

"Does she realize Dad doesn't want Mark back?"

"She's six. Absolutely not."

A car pulled into the driveway and James came out carrying an unconscious Mindy.


	87. Chapter 87

**jadeMK11: **Yes he does. It sure as hell won't be easy but he has to try to manage it somehow. And which same shit are you talking about with Cooper and Connor? My answer kind of depends on the specifics. **Esha Napoleon**: Thank you! **cathy:** Yes she does. Poor thing. And oh yeah, Chelsea's just…oh I just want to eat her. **NeroAnne**: Aww thank you : ) We're glad you think so. And if you think we've always got something there now, just wait until our next story starts. There will be a whole lot more somethings coming and they're definitely not pretty.

Important note! This is officially the second to last chapter of this story. Details for Vermi and mine's next project will be coming with the final chapter : )

…

"Daddy! Daddy!" Thorn and Scarlett came running out of the house at top speed. "Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

James grinned and tightened his grip on Mindy as he bent down to kiss the both of them on the top of their heads. "Sugarplum! Angelcakes!" He gave them each another kiss. "Were you good girls for Taylor?"

"Of course!" Thorn said. "We're good girls Daddy we always behave."

"I behaved better," Scarlett said, folding her hands in front of her nice and primly.

"You did not!" Thorn denied adamantly. "We behaved just the same!"

"I was still better," Scarlett said daintily. She got up on her tip toes so she could see Mindy's face better. "Is Mommy okay?"

"Of course she is," he assured her as he opened the back passengers door of the car to get Elizabeth out of her car seat. "She's just tired from the surgery. When we get inside I'll get her to bed so she can get lots and lots of rest."

Thorn raised her eyebrows. "Are you going to be in bed with her Daddy? Because there won't be any resting if you two are in bed together."

James opened his mouth to try to claim plenty of sleep could be had with him and Mindy in a bed together but he didn't get a chance to get a word out. The front door opened again and Taylor, Tryg and Chelsea came out. "Daddy Daddy!" Chelsea had paint all over her hands and on Stickers, and once she wrapped herself around James's leg she got it all over him too.

"Princess!" James reached down and rubbed her back. "You and Stickers were are all messy. Did you make me a nice picture?"

Chelsea nodded. "Your office."

"It's in my office?" He grinned as she nodded again. "Okay. Let me get Mommy into bed and then you can show me it, okay?"

"Okay," Chelsea agreed. She hugged Stickers tightly against her, nearly crushing the poor animal in the process. "Mommy go night night Stick-ers. Mommy night night."

"How long is she going to be sleeping?" Tryg asked, climbing up James as best as he could so he could be closer to Mindy. "Is she going to be okay? Does she need anything Daddy? Did you get her pregnant already?"

James sputtered a bit at that last question, which made Taylor shake her head at him. "Can't blame the kid for asking," she said as she took Elizabeth out of the car seat for James. "With the way you two are with each other and all." She bounced Elizabeth lightly, making the young child squeal in delight. "Isn't that right Lizzie Bear? Your Mommy and Daddy are always all over each other."

"Mum mum mum," Elizabeth cooed. "Da da da!"

James laughed and kissed her forehead. "You're such a cutie Lizzie Bear. Are you going to be ready to be a big sister?"

"I know I will be," Scarlett said while Thorn nodded along. "I want you and Mommy to have another girl because boys are stupid."

"Hey!" Tryg objected. He had gotten himself settled up on James's shoulders and he was beating the top of James's head like it was set of bongos. "We're not stupid! Right Daddy?"

"Uh huh," James agreed, wincing a just a bit because Tryg really was smacking him pretty hard. "Mind easing up there Tarzan? I'm not actually a musical instrument you know."

"It would be cool if you were though," Tryg pointed out. He stopped with the hitting when James started walking towards the house and resorted to hanging on by James's hair, which really didn't feel all that great. "Maybe you could be my drums if I start a band."

"I thought you were going to be a demon hunter," Thorn pointed out as she and the others followed James.

"I can do both," Tryg insisted. "Can't I Daddy?"

"Of course," James agreed. "Duck your head Tarzan." He opened the door and ducked down as low as he could so Tryg's head wouldn't smack the top of the doorframe. "You can do anything you set your mind to."

"Damn right," Tryg agreed, climbing back down off of James and brushing himself off. "I'm gonna have a rock show Daddy! You just wait and see." He took off running, nearly colliding with Cooper as he came to see what was going on. "Move it Cooper! I have a rock show to do!"

Cooper blinked and stared after Tryg, deciding to not even question what that was all about. "How is she?"

James's eyes narrowed and he hugged Mindy protectively against him. There were many many things he wanted to say and do at the moment but he didn't. It was hard as hell but he didn't. It could wait until later.

Cooper wilted a bit glare and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "I was just asking," he said in a small voice.

James still didn't say anything. Instead he just continued to shield Mindy from Cooper's view as much as he could and headed up the stairs. He could still feel the younger man's eyes on him and he could hear Taylor saying something to him but he didn't pay enough attention to make out what the words were. Instead he focused on placing little kisses on the side of Mindy's head, cooing a whole bunch of sweet nothings into her ear even though she was sleeping.

"Here we are Baby Doll," he said happily as he opened their bedroom door and carried her into it. "We're finally here." He carried her over to the bed and set her down, smoothing her hair down and kissing her forehead softly. "I love you Baby Doll." He kissed her forehead again before moving down towards her stomach so he could kiss that as well. "Hey little baby…I don't know if you're in there or not. If you're not, you will be really soon. And if you are…well I just want to say that Mommy and I are very excited about meeting you. Boy, girl, I don't care. As long as you and Mommy come out of this healthy you can be whatever you want to be."

…

"Did you see the way he looked at me?" Cooper said as he leaned back against the wall. He was watching Taylor feed Elizabeth because she was the only one that wanted to be around him. Thorn and Scarlett had run off to make Mindy something, Tryg was still planning his rock show, Chelsea was waiting for James to get done putting Mindy to bed so she could have him all to herself and Amber was just…well Cooper didn't know and that was okay with him. She was the last person he wanted to be around at the moment; hell he would take James at this point over her and being around James was still a hazard to his own health.

Taylor nodded but she didn't look entirely sympathetic. "What did you expect dude? You still haven't made any attempt to mending bridges with him."

"How can I do that when he just tries to kill me or shuts me out?" Cooper asked, banging the back of his head against the wall.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you would figure out a way if you actually tried instead of just acting like you're entitled to his forgiveness."

"I don't do that," he denied with a pout. "I just don't know what to do. Dad hates me with a fiery passion and sees me as nothing more than his father."

Taylor had to frown at that one. "Huh?"

Cooper raised his eyebrows. "Oh nobody ever told you? My grandpa was a rapist. He raped Caroline and that's the only reason she ever got pregnant."

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. And she told Dad that a thousand times to make him feel shitty about himself."

"What happened to the guy?"

"He tried to rape my mom and Dad slaughtered him." Cooper pushed himself off the wall and sat down in the nearest chair. "He was never scared of Joseph the way he was of Caroline but he hated him almost as much. And now when he sees a rapist-"

"He sees Daddy Dearest," Taylor concluded. She shook her head and kissed Elizabeth's forehead. "You have a very fucked up family."

Cooper could only shrug at that comment. "Yeah I know. Murderers, rapists, incest…it's been fucked up for generations." He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned back in his chair. "I'd still rather call myself a Lawson over a Calaway though. I'll take the insanity over acknowledging Captain Fucktard as my father."

"Speaking of him, where do you think he is now?"

"Who cares? As long as he's not here and stays far far away I couldn't give a rat's ass even if you paid me."

…

Mark polished off another shot of whiskey (he had no idea how many he had had at this point because he had lost track not long after getting into the double digit territory) and chased it down with his fourth beer of the day. The room was dark and littered with empty bottles of alcohol and the room reeked so bad that if someone were to have walked in right then they would have probably gotten a contact drunk just from breathing the air. "Fuck," he grunted, belching loudly as he tossed the empty beer bottle aside and grabbing another one. He was hauled up in a hotel room and all he had been doing since his last confrontation with James was drinking. He hadn't been on a binge like this since his days of true heavy drinking and he had forgotten how much he had missed it. It was all so simple when he did this. It was just him and the alcohol and the rest of the world just faded away.

His phone rang and he grunted, stumbling up to his feet so he could go over to his bag, which was where his phone was. He had a brief hope that it was possibly James calling him but that hope died as soon as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Mark?"

Oh fucking hell. It was Michelle. "What?" he grunted, stumbling back over to the bed so he could flop down on it. He was passed the buzzed stage and was in full on hammered territory, which was something that was not lost on his wife.

"Where are you? Are you still in Las Vegas?"

"What if I am?" he asked, reaching blindly over to the bedside table until he managed to grab his whiskey.

"Why are you still there?" Michelle grilled. "What are you doing there that's so important? And have you been drinking? You sound terrible."

Mark snorted. "I'm fine."

"Mark-"

"I'm fine!" he growled. His temper was horrible when he was drunk and he was really not in the mood to hear her crap anyway. "Fuck, what's with the fucking interrogation? You're not my fucking mother!"

Michelle was quiet for a minute, taken aback by the venom in Mark's voice. "I was _worried_ about you. Fuck, you don't have to take my head off."

Mark only grunted. He was too drunk to give a shit about her and even if he was sober it wasn't likely he would have felt any different. She wasn't who he wanted and he was going to punish her for it. Fucking bitch married him? Fuck her, she wasn't going to be happy. He would make her just as miserable as he was just because he felt like it.

"You know what? If you're going to be that way then fuck you." Michelle hung up and Mark growled angrily. She just fucking hung up on him? Who did she think she was? He dialed her number, fully intending on bitching her out for hanging up on him but he didn't get an answer. She was intentionally ignoring him and in a fit of anger he threw his phone across the room, causing it to break when it hit the wall. He rubbed his face before chugging his whiskey straight up while still lying down. It burned his throat and made him choke but he didn't stop until it was all gone. Once he was done he threw the bottle aside and then coughed until he passed out into a drunken slumber.

…

"So you drew me a picture Princess?" James asked as he carried her and Stickers towards his office. They both really really needed a bath but she had absolutely insisted that he see what she did before that happened.

"Yes," she confirmed. She looked so damn proud of herself that James was just melting as he held her. "On your floor!"

James blinked, not sure if he had heard that right. "On my floor?"

"Yes!"

"Oh boy…" James went into his office and his jaw dropped and his eyes widened at the sight that was waiting for him behind the door. His entire office had been painted and that was not exaggeration. The word 'DADDY' was literally written on everything and there were hearts and smiley faces all over the place too. On the floor was a mural of her and James and she had even written 'DADDY' there too for good measure.

"This is" she pointed to the painted computer and nodded "YOUR office. No Mark. YOUR office."

James blinked, unsure about what to say or do. What the hell could he do? Yeah she had completely painted his office and destroyed more than a few papers that he needed but how could he even begin to get mad at her? She was Princess, he couldn't do that. She hadn't been doing it to be naughty. She was just marking his territory. How could he scold her for helping? "This is very pretty," he told her, kissing her cheek and playfully nomming on it, making her squeal in delight. "You did such a good job. Now everybody is going to know this is my office."

Chelsea nodded curtly. "Your office. No Mark."

"That's right, no Mark." He carried her out of the office and bounced her lightly. "Now you know what time it is?"

"Bath time!" she exclaimed. "Bath time me! Bath time Stick-ers!"

"That's right! It's bath time."

"Bubble bath."

"You want a bubble bath?"

"Yes."

"Well if it's a bubble bath you want, it's a bubble bath you'll get."

…

After giving Chelsea and Stickers their bath James got them settled into bed for their nap and read them a story until they fell asleep. Once that happened he began to head back towards his and Mindy's room but his phone rang, making him stop so he could pull it out of his pocket and answer it. "Hello?"

"Daddy can I have a polar bear if I can catch one?" Connor asked. He was using a cutesy little voice to help entice James into giving him his way.

"No Connor," James said with a sigh.

"Why not?" Connor whined.

"You have enough pets as it is and a polar bear is not a pet. Besides, I don't think all this heat here will do the poor thing any good."

"Well that's why I'll keep it here in Canada and come visit it!"

James shook his head. "Just…no Connor. You're not having a polar bear."

"Mean!" Connor shouted unhappily. "Mean mean mean Daddy!"

"Yeah yeah I know." James rubbed the back of his neck. He was going to be "mean Daddy" now until he either gave in and gave the kid a polar bear or until something else caught Connor's attention. "Listen, there's something I really need to talk to you about." He knew this was not going to be something Connor wanted to hear but he wanted to tell him and get it over with.

"What is it?" Connor asked impatiently. "Did you get me a present? Is Tiffany coming back to live with us?"

"No Connor. It's about me and Mommy."

Connor sighed impatiently at that. "Daddy we've been over this. I don't have a-"

"Connor Michael Lawson! Don't you even DARE say what I think you're about to say!"

"But Daddy-"

"No. I don't want to hear it."

"But Daddy I don't-"

Instead of saying anything else James just hung up, which would hopefully get through to Connor. He had never tried doing anything like this before with him and he was really hoping it worked.

Two minutes later his phone rang again. "You hung up on me!" Connor pouted when James answered it.

"Yes I did," James confirmed.

"Why?"

"Because you were about say mean things about Mommy."

"But…but…" Connor was at a loss for words for a bit. "She started it."

"No she did not Connor."

"Yes she did Daddy! She did she did she did-"

James hung up again and this time it only took about five seconds for Connor to call him back.

"…Do you hate me now?" Connor asked, in near tears on the other line.

James shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose a bit. "No Connor, I don't hate you. But I'm not listening to that kind of talk and it's not going to be put up with when you get back home. Do you understand me?" It felt so beyond weird to be all firm and scold-y with Connor but he had to do it. "Connor? Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Connor mumbled unhappily.

"Okay. Now I wanted to tell you that Mommy had surgery the other day and she got a new uterus put in."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means she can have babies again-"

"What? More babies?" Connor groaned obnoxiously loud. "They're going to be shooting out of her like a cannon!"

"Connor-"

"You never stop humping her Daddy! It'll be BANG pregnant! BANG pregnant! BANG pregnant! And then it'll be BOOM baby BOOM baby BOOM baby!"

James blinked, completely at a loss for words.

"Well I gotta go get ready for the army of more dumb babies," Connor said with a sigh.

"Connor…"

"What? Oh, I can't say dumb babies? Ugh…fine. They're infidels. See I call everyone that so it's not as mean. So don't-OOOH MONKEY!"

James cocked an eyebrow as Connor hung up on him to do whatever it was with a monkey his heart desired. "That boy I swear…" He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket and started to continue on his way to his and Mindy's room-only to come face to face with Amber first. "Hi Pumpkin…"


	88. Chapter 88

**cathy**: Thank you! **jadeMK11**: Ah okay. Connor honestly had to deal with a lot more teasing than Cooper did even though he was taken out of school when he was twelve (he was then home schooled by tutors until he was sixteen). Cooper had his share but unlike Connor, he hit his growth spurt early so kids didn't exactly want to say shit to his face. James and Amber's conversation is guaranteed to be interesting and oh lord *shakes head* I wouldn't put it past Connor to want to bring home a wild buffalo. Pretty much any animal he can't bring home is the one he wants to. **Esha Napoleon**: XD. And thank you!

**Here it is, the final chapter of this story. Thank you all who've read and reviewed and all that, we really appreciate it. We have a sequel to this one coming up called Taken and believe me, it's yet another bumpy ride (we don't seem to do any other kind XD). **

…

"What do YOU want?" Amber asked James coldly, eyeballing him in disgust and just waiting for him to move past her into her mother's bedroom.

Sighing and running a hand through his hair, James frowned, "Amber…"

"What?" all she could do was glare at him and shrug, "What do you want from me anymore?"

Internally cringing at that James had to stiffen uncomfortably and swallow hard at her just glaring at him with those gigantic blue eyes full of contempt, "I want you to love me" whether that came out harsh or stringent he didn't know, but he couldn't help how he felt, "I love you, Amber Rose."

"Look…" she held up a hand and eyeballed him coldly, "I don't care about what you have to lie to me about, I care about my Mommy"

"Amber…" he exhaled and would have bent down on his knees if she weren't about to rip his head off, "I LIVE to love your mother…"

"LIAR!" she stamped her foot at him and shook her head violently, "You love Uncle MARK! You make calls with him and call him all the time, I see it, James"

He winced every time she called him James.

"I SEE it, James! I LOVED you and you made my Mommy into a complete baby for you before killing her! YOU brought Mindy back, YOU did!"

"I know…" his eyes dropped and he nodded reluctantly, "I know I did Amber, and I am so fucking sorry, Pumpkin please please please listen to me I love you all so much and never ever meant to hurt you"

"You made her want to die before your mother 'haunted' you, James" wrinkling her nose she shook her head, "You made her want to blow her fucking brains out. She tried to blow her brains out and if not for me you wouldn't have a 'Baby Doll' anymore."

"And I think you more than you could ever imagine for that, Amber" he nodded and wanted more than anything in the world to take a step towards her, "I love you so unbelievably much though even before you did that for us. You were the first little girl I ever had-"

"Don't give me that bullshit you would throw me under the bus for Connor so fast and you know it. I'm not your kid and you damn well let me know it more than once."

"Whatever made you ever think that-"

"No one is allowed to say a thing to you about Connor but he can call me names and make fun of me all day?" her eyebrows rose and she nodded, "That sounds pretty unfair to me."

"And I'm WORKING on that to fix-"

"You're SETTLING because my Mommy will leave you if you keep treating us like shit. She meant it."

"I know she did Amber, please…" now he stepped closer to her and she held her ground. The tall thin child held her ground firmly and just glared impatiently for his next words to try and assuage her. "I know things have to change and I'm TRYING to do that"

"You can say whatever you want" Amber snarled and shook her head at him, "I will never forgive you for doing what you are to my Mommy."

"Amber please-"

"I don't care WHAT she says she wants" her finger went to their closed bedroom door and her teeth clenched, "Mommy is SICK she is and she will always BE sick! You KNOW she can't have babies! You KNOW it makes her sick and you know she will cry and scream all day for another baby but being that she almost DIED while trying to have Lizzie Bear you HAVE to say no to her! She's going to DIE she is!"

"Sssssh no no no no no, Amber no please,"

"What?" she snorted and folded her arms across her chest, "What are YOU gonna do? You didn't even CARE the first time when we were having Lizzie Bear"

"No, that's wrong" he shook his head with bleary eyes and tried to step towards her again, "That's so wrong, Amber I cared you know I did"

"I don't know ANYTHING other than YOU left her while she was pregnant and I hate you for it."

"So what?" he shrugged at her nastily, "You're gonna hate me forever now? Is that it?"

"See, unlike Connor I have substance to my arguments. And I have EVERY reason to hate you right now. You're killing my Mommy while bringing your old boyfriend back to line him up for once she drops DEAD and makes us ORPHANS-"

"NO! Amber NO"

"At this point?" she shook her head, "I would rather be a ward of the state than live with you alone as my 'Daddy'…" she shrugged nastily, "Whatever the hell that means."

"I LOVE you, Amber Rose my god I LOVE you! I love YOU, I love your MOTHER god I fucking love her so much it makes me sick and I want absolutely nothing to do with Mark anymore"

"Why'd you call him?"

"Because…" running a hand through his hair haplessly he shrugged, "I didn't know what to do"

"She's gonna have MPD for the rest of her life there's nothing you or anyone can do about it. Mindy will never go away and by calling Mark to get 'Mindy' away you're only bringing him back into your life and you may just get what you're wishing for."

"My only wish is for MOMMY to stop trying to blow her brains out, Amber! What can I honestly do to win with you, tell me that!"

"Win?" she rolled her eyes and scowled, "You did win me over when you tricked us. You made me think you were gonna be the best Daddy ever and love me and my sisters and my brother and my Mommy forever and ever before we learned your crazy psycho kids come before us" she paused to wait for him to attack her for that statement, and being that he didn't she nodded along satisfactorily, "I'm stunned."

"I tried to tell you…" he nodded at her with a frown, "I love you all so fucking much, Amber I know I've made mistakes and I NEED YOU on my side to help me fix them"

"None of us want Connor back except you and maybe Tryggy…MAYBE…he's not exactly dying here"

"So we'll put Cooper on Connor duty please and that will keep him out of our hair…he'll make himself useful somehow"

"And we have to deal with Connor smart-mouthing" she wrinkled her nose, "Or whatever HE thinks is 'smart mouthing'…each and every waking moment of the day because he's either jealous of US or the baby Mommy is most likely going to die having for you?"

"Please don't say that, please don't wish death on her please please"

"I didn't wish death on her…" she shook her head with a stone expression, "You killed my mother and now I have to come to terms with it before I become a mess when she dies. YOU know she won't make it the doctors TOLD YOU no with her! She CAN'T!"

"I know, but I'm going to take care of her-"

"Like you lied the first time?" she nodded along with curled lips, "I get it."

"I didn't LIE, Amber Rose please!" he dropped to his knees and tried to touch her but she violently wrenched herself away, "Please Amber please please please understand-"

"How Mark's gonna take you away from my mother?" she shook her head with a scowl, "No. I don't WANT to watch her die anymore, James! I've been watching her die my whole life and the ONE time she was happy you killed her! You KILLED her James by leaving her and raping her! And now you bring Mark back when my Mommy is pregnant so you can leave her AGAIN?" she shook her head with a scowl, "I DON'T want to talk to you ever again, James. You did nothing but hurt us and lie to us and I can't take it. If you weren't going to keep your promises you shouldn't have lied to us all the time back when Mommy fell in love with you. We would have understood much better if you didn't pretend to mean everything you said to us, but you DID"

"Because I DID mean it"

"Only to split those 'feelings' for someone else! So really you DIDN'T feel that way at all"

"Amber stop PLEASE stop and understand how much I love you" he frowned and beckoned towards her, but painfully she didn't come, "I do love you Amber, so fucking much"

"LIAR!" she screamed and shook her head at him, "You DON'T" taking a moment to sniffle and short-circuit she shrugged, "And I'm OKAY with that, James! That's what you don't get! I'm OKAY with whatever you want to throw at me! You DON'T scare me anymore, James! You don't HAVE to pretend to love me for Mommy she'll stay with you no matter what, alright? You always made me feel awkward anyway so whatever" she shrugged and waved him off, "Stay away from me, alright? I never had a Daddy to begin with…and you lasted about three days until you realized you had Mommy hooked"

"Amber NO!" he lunged for her but she left without another word, tears in her eyes but she didn't to as much as crane her neck to see the sullen look on his face. She didn't care for it. Clearly he didn't give a damn about her why was she even pretending to feel the same? He'd beat her within an inch of her life if she weren't Mindy's daughter but she didn't care. The plan clearly was to use her mother like a brood mare while leading her around by the nose and making sure Mark kept his place up top as the primary relationship. The whore would die off eventually and that was that.

…

"Dude…" Taylor ran a brush through Amber's hair and shook her head at Cooper, "So Miss Ambieloo over here totally owned Mr. Lawson yet again"

"Did she?" Cooper raised an eyebrow and Taylor nodded with wide eyes.

"She can't even speak James had her so disgusted" Taylor sighed while gently petting Amber's face, with the open palm of her skinny hand, "He has NO idea what he's in for with her."

"I don't think so either" Cooper's eyes widened and he could only shake his head at Amber, "I don't have any idea what's gotten into her"

"YOU wouldn't get it" she pointed a finger his way and sighed, "It's a girl thing, I wouldn't expect you to"

"What? Daddy issues?" he shrugged and dropped onto Taylor's bed, "I have Daddy issues, hell, I'm an inventory of Daddy issues, aren't I?"

"She never HAD a Dad to really hate" Taylor sighed while pulling the lanky child into her lap, "I mean the first one was never around and he was also a woman-beating psycho…and then Mr. Lawson just apparently really bit the bullet with her somehow and she's just a mess"

"I got the mess part down right" he nodded as both Amber and Taylor shot him a glare. "What?"

"Sorry Ambie…" Taylor sighed and shook her head at Cooper, "Some idiots just don't get it."

"Hey!"

"Rich boy…" her hand went up and she shook her head with curled lips, "Quit while you're ahead and come up with a lesson plan to keep your brother away from everyone else."

…

Two weeks later as Mindy stared at the pink stick which read 'pregnant', she leapt about a foot in the air and screamed while bolting through the house with the biggest smile on her face, "JAMIE! JAMIE!"


End file.
